NASSAU, Bahamas — Freshman guard Jaiden Glover has yet to play significant minutes, but that could change on Thursday against No. 13 Baylor.
Unprompted, coach Rick Pitino said the highly regarded, four-star prospect could have a role in the 22nd-ranked Johnnies’ opener in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship.
“This is a game of athletes and he’s a very good athlete,” Pitino said. “Guys like Jaiden may have to play in this game because they are such a dynamic offensive basketball team. If the pace is high, we may have to play more people.”
The 6-foot-4 Glover didn’t play in Sunday’s win over New Mexico and logged a combined 15 minutes in the first three games.
But Baylor will play four guards at the same time for large stretches, which could create a need for Pitino to go deeper into his bench.
In the win over New Mexico, only eight Johnnies got into the game, and the only reserve to receive double-digit minutes was Simeon Wilcher.
That is likely to change during this trip. St. John’s will play three games in four days. Center Vince Iwuchukwu, who also didn’t get into Sunday’s game, is likely to see minutes.
Pitino isn’t too concerned with St. John’s high turnover rate so far.
It is averaging 13.5 turnovers per game and had 16 on Sunday. Seven of those were by Kadary Richmond.
“Kadary was just fatigued, and because of fatigue he just threw the ball away numerous times for no rhyme or reason,” Pitino said. “When he gets in great shape to play 94 feet of basketball, he won’t make those mistakes.”
This will be St. John’s first nonconference tournament in The Bahamas since 2016.
The Red Storm went 0-3 that year in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament under Chris Mullin. … St. John’s is expecting roughly 400 fans to make the trip.
