Queens native Hassan Diarra started his college basketball career with the Texas A&M Aggies and then made a decision that has dramatically altered his life. Diarra transferred to the University of Connecticut to play for head coach Dan Hurley and became one of the Huskies top reserves on back-to-back national championship squads, winning Big East Sixth Man of the Year honors last season. The senior has continued to come off of the bench this season in a leading role for the Huskies but their aim to make it three straight will be much harder than the other runs to the title as they are far from being a dominant team.
UConn was 17-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big East when they hosted Villanova on Tuesday night. They were unranked, out of the top 25, for the first time since the 2022-23 preseason polls after a 68-62 loss to St. John’s on February 7. Diarra went into the game versus Villanova topping UConn in assists at six per game while also averaging 8.2 points.
For Brooklyn’s Kadary Richmond, his college basketball journey began long before he was playing regularly at Madison Square Garden. The South Shore High School alumnus played his freshman year for Syracuse University under legendary head coach Jim Boeheim. The Syracuse Orange, one of the Big East Conference’s founding programs, had many memorable games at MSG before moving to the ACC in 2013. Richmond transferred to Seton Hall after his first season with Syracuse and played three years for the Pirates.
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With the NCAA granting student-athletes who were enrolled or entering college during COVID-19 an additional year, after four years of college basketball, Richmond transferred to St. John’s last summer to suit up for the Red Storm and another legendary head coach, Rick Pitino. He was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal and decided to finish up at home. It has been a near perfect match. Richmond has been one of the best all around guards in the country and St. John’s one of its best teams.
He was averaging 12.6 points, shooting a career-high 49.3% from the field and led the Red Storm in assists (5.1) and steals (2) per game when they took on DePaul last night on the road. St. John’s is experiencing its best season in three decades, having entered the top 10 for the first time in 26 years. The 22-4 Johnnies were as high as No. 9 a little over a week ago and are currently No. 10, first in the Big East at 13-2 heading into last night’s game. On Sunday at the Garden, Richmond dropped 19 points in a 79-73 win over the Creighton Bluejays.
“It feels good, going around, being noticed because of the way we’re playing and what we’re doing as a team,” Richmond said when asked about playing in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden. “We’re staying humble and we are going to keep on trying to win every game and play.”
Pitino said Richmond has leveled up as the team has risen in the rankings. “Kadary just keeps getting better and better,” he said. “I love his confidence. He doesn’t think about shooting a three. He just has great confidence right now, and that’s why he is playing so well.”
“This is what I transferred for,” Richmond said, referring to his team being on top of the Big East Conference and revitalizing the program. “I like what’s going on in the city right now.”