Latest news with #Wilcher
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Simeon Wilcher surprisingly enters transfer portal after two seasons with St. John's
St. John's was dealt a shocking blow on Friday afternoon. Sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher entered the transfer portal, according to multiple reports. Hailing from Plainfield, New Jersey as the 34th-ranked recruit in the 2023 high school class according to 247Sports' Composite rankings, Wilcher committed to St. John's after requesting a release from his national letter of intent with North Carolina, becoming one of the first high school signings during Rick Pitino's tenure in Queens. Advertisement The Roselle Catholic product seldom played in his freshman year, averaging 2.8 points and 9.1 minutes per game in 28 games played, then he became an important contributor during his sophomore year. This season, Wilcher averaged 8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 36 games played and 25 starts but struggled with finding consistent production as he shot 40.7% overall and 29.7% from three. Wilcher's portal entry marks the third Red Storm departure this week and the fifth overall this offseason. On Tuesday, freshmen Jaiden Glover and Khaman Maker declared for the transfer portal. R.J. Luis Jr. entered his name into the portal and the NBA Draft process, and Brady Dunlap recently committed to Saint Louis. St. John's has eight scholarship players for the 2025-26 season, and Rick Pitino prioritized adding guards even before Wilcher departed. North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson and top-40 high school prospect Acaden Lewis recently visited campus and have yet to decide on their commitments. Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee was also on campus for a visit, but he committed to Florida earlier this week. More from
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Longhorns add former St. John's guard Simeon Wilcher
Longhorns add former St. John's guard Simeon Wilcher Simeon Wilcher is joining the Longhorns after a productive c career with St. John's Over the last few months, the Longhorns men's basketball team has been busy improving its roster. That continued Thursday as Texas added former St. John's guard Simeon Wilcher. The New Jersey native joins Texas after a solid career with the Red Storm. During the 2024-2025 campaign, Wilcher saw an increase in playing time. In 36 games, he averaged a career-high eight points and 1.9 rebounds per game. The talented guard also averaged 25.4 minutes per game and helped advance to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. It was the program's first March Madness appearance since 2019. Coming out of high school, Wilcher was a four-star recruit and ranked as the 36th-best overall player in the 2023 class. He was also ranked as the sixth-best shooting guard, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. While those were lofty expectations to meet, he has made the most of his opportunities. Wilcher is the fifth player Sean Miller has added through the transfer portal. He joins wings Camden Heide and Dailyn Swain, as well as big men Matas Vokietaitis and Lassina Traore. That group should help the Longhorns return to the NCAA tournament after a disappointing season. In Wilcher, the Longhorns are not only getting a consistent scorer but also an experienced player. That will be key as the Longhorns look to end their championship drought. If Wilcher can build on his play from last season, then he should be able to set new career highs in Miller's system. While fans will have to wait a few months to see Wilcher's debut, it should be worth the wait as Texas prepares for an exciting first year under Sean Miller's leadership.
Miami Herald
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
RJ Luis Jr., No. 2 St. John's heat up, take down Omaha
RJ Luis Jr. made a career-high five 3-pointers and second-seeded St. John's found its shooting stroke en route to an 83-53 victory over No. 15 seed Omaha in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Providence, R.I. St. John's (31-4) earned its first tournament win since 2000. Coach Rick Pitino and the Big East champs will face John Calipari and No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round Saturday. Luis led all scorers with 22 points and added eight rebounds. He made 5 of 8 attempts from deep as St. John's -- a 30.4 percent 3-point shooting team entering the night -- matched a season high with 14 3-pointers to counter Omaha clogging the lanes. "I didn't know we hit 14 threes," Luis said. "We're not bad shooters, it's just about moving the ball and getting open looks and shots and shooting the ball with confidence. Definitely if we're able to keep shooting the threes, it's going to be pretty interesting going down and we have to pick up our defense and get back to that, which is our identity." Simeon Wilcher scored 13 points for the Red Storm. Kadary Richmond had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Zuby Ejiofor added 10 points, seven boards, four assists and three blocks. JJ White posted 15 points and five assists to lead Omaha (22-13), which was playing in its first Division I NCAA Tournament after claiming the Summit League championship. Marquel Sutton scored 11 for the Mavericks, and Isaac Ondekane pulled down 10 of his 11 rebounds in the first half. St. John's missed its first five shots and let Omaha stake out a 7-0 lead, prompting an early timeout from Pitino. After Richmond got the Red Storm on the board, Luis scored eight St. John's points in a row, bookended by a pair of 3-pointers. "I thought we got off to a great start, 7-0," Omaha coach Chris Crutchfield said. "Gave our guys some energy and confidence that we could play with a good team like St. John's. As the game wore on, the physicality of that team just wore us down. ... We didn't make any shots tonight, but great effort by our guys. " The Mavericks moved ahead 20-14 before St. John's turned the tables. Wilcher cut the lead in half with a 3-pointer, prompting a 16-2 run that featured triples by Deivon Smith, Ruben Prey and another from Wilcher. Omaha scored six in a row to cut it to 30-28, but Vince Iwuchukwu got inside for a bucket that turned into a three-point play with two seconds left, giving St. John's a 33-28 halftime edge. Luis kept the Red Storm 3-point party going by making one 14 seconds into the second half. Teammate Aaron Scott splashed a trey, then Luis and Wilcher went on a two-on-one that ended in an alley-oop dunk by Luis, giving St. John's firm control at 43-30. Luis knocked down another two triples to hand St. John's its first 20-point lead with 13:14 to go. Critically, the Red Storm had assists on their first eight made field goals of the half while committing zero turnovers. St. John's held the Mavericks to 7-of-34 field-goal shooting (20.6 percent) and outrebounded them 31-19 in the second half. "The one thing about our team all season long, we have never panicked about either being down or being up by a few," Pitino said. "I think that the players were correct. I think they were a little tight. This is all new to them. ... It's first-time experience for them. They will learn from this night, get a lot better but it's been a great season for us." --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
St. John's vs. Omaha: Live updates from March Madness
PROVIDENCE — St. John's begins its 2025 NCAA Tournament run against Omaha. The second-seeded Red Storm (30-4), playing in the West Region, are the Big East Conference champions. Led by coach Rick Pitino, St. John's has won nine straight games leading into the first-round matchup against the Mavericks. No. 15 Omaha (22-8) secured an automatic bid to March Madness with its 85-75 win over St. Thomas in the Summit League tournament championship. They have the conference player of the year in Marquel Sutton and league first-team guard, JJ White, leading the way. St. John's is an 18-point favorite, per The Red Storm average 78.7 points per game and hold their opponents to just 65.9. This tournament is St. John's 30th appearance overall and first since 2019. The Red Storm have made it to nine Sweet 16s, six Elite Eights and two Final Fours in 1952 and 1985 over its NCAA Tournament history. They also lost the 1952 National Championship to Kansas, 80-63. This is the first meeting between St. John's and Omaha. Tip is set for 9:45 p.m. at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. Follow here for updates from the game: St. John's opened up a 10-point lead on Richmond's inside finish off a sweet in-bounds play from Ejiofor. It's was the biggest lead of the game, at the time, for the Red Storm. Luis then threw down a lob from Wilcher as St. John's has a chance to break this game open. Luis is up to 13 points on the night. St. John's was held scoreless over the last 3:11, but Vincent Iwuchukwu converted a 3-point play with two seconds left. Sutton leads all scorers with 10 points, while Wilcher and Luis both have eight for St. John's. The Red Storm are shooting 37% from the floor and are trailing in the rebounding margin, 26-16. Omaha had a chance to pull away early, but the Mavericks are shooting just 31% from the floor. The Mavericks, surprisingly, have a 14-6 edge in points in the paint. St. John's woke up and started firing from beyond the arc. Deivon Smith sparked the shooting with a 3-pointer and Ruben Prey followed as the Red Storm took a 25-22 lead. Wilcher cashed a third straight triple from the key. It's a 14-2 St. John's run over the last 4:41. Sutton throws down a thunderous dunk off the baseline. And Osburn fires in a deep triple from the right wing as Omaha surged to a 20-14 lead. Wilcher halted Omaha's pace with a corner 3-pointer. Luis catches fire with a pair of 3-pointers and an easy dunk inside for St. John's. Osburn responded with a 3 from the left wing as the Mavericks cling to their early lead. Luis leads all scorers with eight points. St. John's is on the board on Richmond's pull-up jumper. Red Storm just 1-7 over the first five minutes. Omaha has four offensive rebounds to start. The Mavericks start on a 7-0 run capped by White's 3-pointer from the key. St. John's is 0-5 to start the game. JJ White, Marquel Sutton, Kamryn Thomas, Isaac Ondekane and Tony Osburn. Aaron Scott, Kadary Richmond, Simeon Wilcher, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Live updates from St. John's vs. Omaha in March Madness
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Villanova edges No. 9 St. John's 73-71 to stop Red Storm's winning streak
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Tyler Perkins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining and Villanova defeated No. 9 St. John's 73-71 on Wednesday night, ending the Red Storm's 10-game winning streak. Wooga Poplar scored 22 points and Eric Dixon added 17 in a critical victory for the Wildcats (15-10, 8-6 Big East), who have won three in a row. Aaron Scott led four players in double figures with 22 points for the Red Storm (21-4, 12-2), who lead the Big East by one game over No. 24 Creighton. The teams meet Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Kadary Richmond had 17 points and 10 assists for St. John's. Simeon Wilcher and RJ Luis Jr. scored 12 apiece. Off to its best start in 40 years, St. John's was playing its first regular-season game as a top-10 team in the AP Top 25 since Feb. 27, 1999, also a loss at Villanova. St. John's scored 14 consecutive points, capped by Luis' dunk, to go ahead 62-59 with 6:22 left. Takeaways St. John's: Chasing the program's first Big East regular-season title since 1992, the Red Storm remain in good position to earn a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Villanova: Trying to make a March Madness push, the Wildcats get two more chances for quality wins in their next two games, at Providence and at UConn. Key moments Wilcher hit a 3 that gave St. John's a 71-70 lead with 27.3 seconds left, but Perkins connected from right in front of the Wildcats' bench to put them back in front. Wilcher then missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer. Key stat St. John's shot 11 for 37 (30%) from 3-point range, 10 more attempts than its previous season high. The Red Storm entered shooting 29% from beyond the arc. Up next St. John's: Will host Creighton on Sunday with first place in the Big East standings at stake. St. John's lost 57-56 at Creighton on New Year's Eve before beginning its 10-game winning streak. Villanova: Plays at Providence on Saturday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and
