Chris Ledlum has been unsung star for surging St. John’s while battling through ankle injury
CHICAGO —Every few days, Rick Pitino seeks out Chris Ledlum.
He wants to know how his starting power forward is feeling. His right ankle has bothered him most of the year.
The senior forward always has the same response: “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good.”
“Then, I see him in the trainer’s room, jumping in every pool, icing himself down,” Pitino said. “He’s a tough son of a gun. He’s playing terrific.”
It continued in Tuesday’s annihilation of DePaul at Wintrust Arena.
In St. John’s 104-77 rout, Ledlum was all over the floor — finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
He has been an unsung star of late for surging St. John’s.
In the Johnnies’ four-game winning streak, he’s averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.75 steals.
More than the numbers, the 6-foot-6 Brooklyn native has done the little things: made the extra pass, been strong on the glass, defended better than he has all year.
And he’s done so despite an ankle that has been a nagging issue since missing a game against Hofstra on Dec. 30.
“He’s been hurt the whole year,” Pitino said. “And I’ll say this: 95 percent of people would not play with how banged up he’s been.”
Asked about the injury, Ledlum played it off. Yes, he feels discomfort. But there’s no way he’s going to sit out.
“If I can play, I’m going to play at any time,” he said. “As a young football player, I learned there’s a difference between being injured and being hurt. When you’re hurt, you got to play.”
Overall, Ledlum’s numbers are down compared to what he did at Harvard, when he posted 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds last winter as an All-Ivy League first team selection.
His role is different. He’s more of a glue guy than a go-to scorer. But Ledlum has accepted that role and given maximum effort.
Pitino has tried to play him fewer minutes, thinking the heavy workload hurt his production, and it seems to be paying off.
Ledlum is one of several St. John’s players who have never played in the NCAA Tournament before — along with fellow Ivy League transfer Jordan Dingle (Penn), center Joel Soriano and wing Glenn Taylor Jr., among others.
For all of them, they chose to come to Queens hoping to finally dance.
It seemed unlikely for a while this winter, when the Johnnies dropped eight of 10 games to play themselves off the bubble.
But after these four straight wins, they very much are back in the mix. Most bracketologists now have them in, after a series of results that have gone the Johnnies’ way.
“You see it pretty much everywhere. I don’t really understand it, so I can’t really comment on it,” Ledlum said. “I’m glad things are working out for us. But we’re just focused on taking care of business.”
