St. John’s is expected to be without guard Nahiem Alleyne for a while.
The graduate transfer from Connecticut suffered a sprained right ankle in the first half of the Johnnies’ 73-72 loss to No. 17 Marquette on Saturday.
Alleyne awkwardly fell on teammate Chris Ledlum’s foot while going for a rebound with 11:14 left in the opening half and didn’t return.
He was seen on crutches after the game.
“I would say so,” coach Rick Pitino said, when asked if Alleyne would be out a significant amount of time. “It’s pretty bad. It’s not a fracture or break. It’s a sprain.”
St. John’s was also without guard Jordan Dingle, still sick after testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
With Alleyne out, freshman Simeon Wilcher could see a larger role.
In nine minutes in the loss to Marquette, he had three assists, two rebounds and no turnovers, but didn’t take a shot.
Pitino revealed he is adjusting the in-between games plan with RJ Luis Jr., the talented sophomore wing.
Luis has been dealing with chronic shin splints and has been practicing on a very limited basis to manage the discomfort.
Pitino is switching it up, having Luis practice fully one day, and rest the following day ahead of a game.
He told Luis and his family they could either shut him down or make a change.
“Coming to practice and practicing for like 20 minutes out of two hours, he’s not in shape, he doesn’t know the plays,” Pitino said. “I said, ‘We’re not doing that anymore. We either shut you down, get ready for next year or we’re going to go by my routine. After a game, we’re going to take off, then you’re going to go through a full practice the next day, then you’re going to take off the day before a game.
“At least then, you will have the reps necessary to play the game.’ What we were doing was asinine, to say the least. Kid couldn’t learn the plays, couldn’t learn the defense.”
Luis had one of his better games of the season on Saturday.
He scored 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting and added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.