Darling’s transformation rallies St. John’s as Red Storm wins Big East opener

Dylan Darling regained confidence and shooting stroke, leading St. John’s to victory in Big East opener against DePaul. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)

NEW YORK — Rick Pitino noticed something amiss with Dylan Darling following St. John’s win over Iona Saturday.

The Red Storm coach, concerned with his point guard’s lack of confidence in his jump shot, insisted he needed to get back in the lab with Darling, beginning Sunday.

Just 48 hours after undergoing the first step in what Pitino called a “total makeover,” Darling responded with his finest performance in a St. John’s uniform.

Coming off the bench, Darling led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including three of five attempts from 3-point range as the Red Storm began its Big East Conference championship defense with a 79-66 win over DePaul.

“(Darling) was a little shaky with his confidence prior to yesterday,” Pitino said. “(He) totally dominates the game. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m so proud of Dylan. This young man just took over the game at the point guard position.”

Darling’s effort became all the more valuable Tuesday as St. John’s (7-3, 1-0 Big East) relied on its backcourt to carry the load on a night where Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins were not as dominant. In addition to the Idaho State transfer, Joson Sanon also carded perhaps his best night with the Red Storm, contributing 15 points and nine rebounds. But the most indelible impression left by the 22nd-ranked Johnnies undoubtedly came from the reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Year.

“Coach just told me to play with confidence,” a humble Darling remarked. “He has confidence in me, my teammates do, so why shouldn’t I? He also just told me to put an arc in my jump shot, so the last two days, I’ve been working, overemphasizing putting an arc in my jump shot. I think it was just me believing in it.”

Entering the game after Ian Jackson drew his second consecutive start, Darling knocked down each of his first two long distance attempts as St. John’s gained gradual separation from the visiting Blue Demons. Noticeably, the change in his mechanics was visible to the sellout Carnesecca Arena crowd, a tactical decision Pitino explained along with a simple pep talk that ignited his floor general.

“I started shooting the ball myself and showed him what I want him to do in terms of bringing the ball straight up to the ceiling, and then releasing it,” he said of the change in form. “That’s the feeling, to have him shoot a set shot. That’s a feeling you have to have, and now you’ve gotta work on it before you go out.”

“And then I said to Dylan today, ‘Dylan, what I don’t understand is, you’re so much more valuable than scoring the basketball.’ You see the court, you’re a pest defensively, you get to the floor for loose balls better. You gotta be the toughest guy that makes people better, and if you score, you score. There’s so much more to you than just scoring.”

Darling backed his coach’s beliefs up with six rebounds, and also drew six fouls with his aggressive mindset.

St. John’s steps away from conference play in the coming days for its final non-league contests, first against Kentucky in Atlanta on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic before returning to Carnesecca Arena one more time to face Harvard two days before Christmas. Pitino addressed the clash with the Wildcats, the fourth SEC program the Red Storm will face this season, highlighting a need to commit to team defense and the backboards.

“Kentucky is very big,” he said. “They’re plus-10 on the glass, they rebound the ball great, they’re terrific on defense. It’ll be a tough game. In Lexington, they call it ‘Catlanta.’ They’ll have about 6,000-7,000 of their fans, so it’ll be somewhat of a road game, but that’s okay. We’re playing good defense right now, I think it’ll be a very good test.”