Nahiem Alleyne was overlooked amid St. John’s massive spring overhaul, somewhat forgotten following the significant backcourt additions of Jordan Dingle and Simeon Wilcher.
Consider Saturday afternoon a reminder: The southpaw guard can be a vital piece for the Johnnies this year.
With Dingle missing the game because of a sprained left shoulder and Wilcher being used more on the ball, Alleyne was one of the stars of St. John’s 89-78 double-overtime exhibition victory over Rutgers at Carnesecca Arena.
“Nahiem is [our] best defensive player in the backcourt,” coach Rick Pitino said. “I think everybody overlooks him, but we don’t because he’s our best defensive player as well as being able to make shots.”
Alleyne scored a game-high 19 points, posted a team-best plus-13 rating in 34 productive minutes and forced the second extra session with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
He also iced the game with a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to nine with 50 seconds left in the second overtime.
It was a strong finish after a shaky shooting start for Alleyne, who was part of Connecticut’s national championship team last year.
He wasn’t concerned after players were added at his position. Alleyne has proven he can excel at this level — he spent the first three years of his career at Virginia Tech — and knows he will get an opportunity to prove himself under Pitino.
“Coach just says to play my game. He knows what I can do, three-level scorer, defend multiple positions,” Alleyne said. “You make your own role on this team, you define yourself. It’s not like Coach says, ‘All right, you’re going to be strictly a 3 point shooter or just play defense.’ No, you have to go get it. I feel like all of us are doing a great job every day of trying to define ourselves.”
Dingle, the second-leading scorer in the country last season, was held out of the exhibition game after hurting his shoulder in practice.
Pitino said the injury is not serious, and expected him back at practice this week.
St. John’s hosted four-star wing Jaiden Glover of The Patrick School (N.J.), a verbal commit in the 2024 class, along with a pair of 2025 prospects: four-star guard Jaylen Harrell of CATS Academy (Mass.) and three-star wing London Jemison of St. Thomas More (Conn.) on unofficial visits on Saturday.
All proceeds from the event went to the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation.
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