Welcome Nick Rutherford !

O

otis

Moderator
Staff member
2022 $upporter Moderator
https://nypost.com/2019/06/19/st-johns-fills-massive-need-with-monmouths-nick-rutherford/
——-

St. John’s has filled its glaring need for a point guard.

Monmouth graduate transfer Nick Rutherford verbally committed to new coach Mike Anderson on Tuesday night, picking the Johnnies over New Mexico State, a source told The Post

“His best attribute is his toughness. Very good on-ball defender,” one Division I head coach familiar with Rutherford said. “He’s solid. He’s a tough, tough kid. He’ll get in the lane. He’s gritty. He’s not going to back down from anyone.”

* hit above link for NY Post Story.
 
This is a terrific, low-risk late move to bolster our prospects for the coming season. Now we have an experienced, pass first guy to get the ball to Heron and Figgy (and others) and to allow the young freshman to settle in slowly, and provide a change of pace. The staff has done a good job filling the holes and putting together what I believe (MHO) will be a very competitive and respectable team. If there's one open more spot left, hopefully they can fill it with another guy with size to help rebound.

Great job.
 
Last edited:
A non sexy but very important piece of the puzzle for next season. A very good defender, tough, hard nosed pg who gets in the lane. As opposed to grabbing random pieces this staff understands that you need to have a style of play, a system , and are going after players that fit in with what they want to do. Makes me feel much better about next season. I truly like that the staff did not panic and grab the first to want to come aboard but rather waited until they got the missing piece required.
Patience is a virtue.
If Heron and Figgy can average 35 points a game together which is very possible and all 10 other players can average 4 ppg we can be in good shape next season.
 
Last edited:
[quote="redmannorth" post=352463]A non sexy but very important piece of the puzzle for next season. A very good defender, tough, hard nosed pg who gets in the lane. As opposed to grabbing random pieces this staff understands that you need to have a style of play, a system , and are going after players that fit in with what they want to do. Makes me feel much better about next season. I truly like that the staff did not panic and grab the first to want to come aboard but rather waited until they got the missing piece required.
Patience is a virtue.
If Heron and Figgy can average 35 points a game together which is very possible and all 10 other players can average 4 ppg we can be in good shape next season.[/quote]

I think just as important is developing a legitimate 3rd option who’s at least a threat to get double digits on occasion. Whether it’s Wright, Williams, or a front court player, Rutherford should help keeping them in the right position and getting them the ball.
 
This is a huge pickup for us... needed an experienced Pg and this kid is pretty good. Our prospects for this season change a bit right here. It also won’t hurt our recruitment of the big 2020 class. Great to have a solid Pg with size on board. Doesn’t have to be exciting to really help us this season.
 
Last edited:
Agreed, but I do not find it hard to see that Wright, Williams, Roberts and Steere would be able to more than satisfy the 4 ppg modest goal, and Wright and/or Steere and even Williams (given his development and minutes to be seen) could average 7-10 points or better.

[quote="Amaseinyourface" post=352465][quote="redmannorth" post=352463]A non sexy but very important piece of the puzzle for next season. A very good defender, tough, hard nosed pg who gets in the lane. As opposed to grabbing random pieces this staff understands that you need to have a style of play, a system , and are going after players that fit in with what they want to do. Makes me feel much better about next season. I truly like that the staff did not panic and grab the first to want to come aboard but rather waited until they got the missing piece required.
Patience is a virtue.
If Heron and Figgy can average 35 points a game together which is very possible and all 10 other players can average 4 ppg we can be in good shape next season.[/quote]

I think just as important is developing a legitimate 3rd option who’s at least a threat to get double digits on occasion. Whether it’s Wright, Williams, or a front court player, Rutherford should help keeping them in the right position and getting them the ball.[/quote]
 
Last edited:
As next season progresses, Greg Williams will get the most minutes at the point. He's too good to leave on the bench instead of this guy.
 
To echo others, this is a very nice pickup for the team. Just thinking about the team next year, it will be strange seeing full court, on the ball defense being played by a St. John’s team! Points off of turnovers, rebounds, transition.....basically getting cheap points...will be a welcome sight.
Welcome aboard Nick!
 
[quote="AlBovino" post=352471]As next season progresses, Greg Williams will get the most minutes at the point. He's too good to leave on the bench instead of this guy.[/quote]
Nonsense
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=352473][quote="AlBovino" post=352471]As next season progresses, Greg Williams will get the most minutes at the point. He's too good to leave on the bench instead of this guy.[/quote]
Nonsense[/quote]

Yeah the Pg thing isn’t gonna happen but I agree he won’t be cruising the bench. Anderson will play a lot of guys. Williams will get time at multiple spots. Don’t sleep on Eli Wright either on this roster. He’s a former top 80 4-star kid who is athletic and can play. We have lots of parts now. All we need is an upper class big guy of some type and I think we will have a pretty balanced roster that can go at least 10 deep and push teams.
 
Nice pickup...pretty big guard known for defense and will distribute. Not known for scoring and has high 20's 3PT%, but that's fine if he can get the ball to Fig and Heron.
 
This is the news I've been waiting for ever since Paultz said we were still very much in the hunt for Nick. We have now satisfied our biggest need to be competitive at BE level. Great stuff. Makes it really sweet that it happened on my birthday; I knew I was short one present! lol
Now if we can just add a little size with last schollie we will be set up for a solid year. Great job staff!
 
Led Monmouth in defensive rebounds and second in free throw percentage (78%). Will be a solid floor leader for us. Will play good defense, grab some rebounds, move the ball and hit fouls shots when the opportunity arises.
 
Last edited:
Welcome aboard. Beggars can’t be choosers and we needed an experienced PG late in the game when there weren’t many available. Thornton would have been a coup, but can’t cry over spilled milk.

Have some reservations about a guy who put up those types of numbers at Monmouth, regardless of fit/tempo. We might be playing 4-5 on the offensive end, but hopefully he just plays hard defense, improves on his turnover numbers, brings the ball up without issue, and gets the ball in the hands of the playmakers in the right spot. Maybe he’s some lesser version of Jamal Branch in that respect. And hopefully McGriff is the spark plug energy guy he looks to be and Greg Williams takes the FR to SOPH leap. He showed plenty of flashes of real ability last year.
 
[quote="Jeff Smith" post=352481]Good to have a PG who can make free throws at the end of a game.[/quote]

Ponds didn't?
 
St. John’s 2019-20 roster, by class
Seniors: Mustapha Heron (G), Nick Rutherford (G)

Juniors: LJ Figueroa (G/F), Eli Wright (G), Damien Sears (F)

Sophomores: Greg Williams Jr. (G), Josh Roberts (F), Marcellus Earlington (F), David Caraher (F), Ian Steere (F)

Freshmen: Johnathan McGriff (PG), Julian Champagnie (F)
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=352486]St. John’s 2019-20 roster, by class
Seniors: Mustapha Heron (G), Nick Rutherford (G)

Juniors: LJ Figueroa (G/F), Eli Wright (G), Damien Sears (F)

Sophomores: Greg Williams Jr. (G), Josh Roberts (F), Marcellus Earlington (F), David Caraher (F), Ian Steere (F)

Freshmen: Johnathan McGriff (PG), Julian Champagnie (F)[/quote]

If Steere gets a waiver, he becomes a redshirt-freshman right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top