CHICAGO — Every few days, Rick Pitino looks for Chris Ledrum.
He wants to get a feel for the starting power forward. His right ankle had been bothering him for most of the year.
The senior forward always has the same reaction: “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good.”
“Then I saw him in the trainer’s room jumping in all the pools and icing them,” Pitino said. “He’s a tough son of a gun. He’s playing great.”
That followed Tuesday’s obliteration of DePaul at Wintrust Arena.
In a 104-77 rout of St. John’s, Ledrum was active all over the floor, recording 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
He is a hidden star who has been making St. John’s rise rapidly lately.
He is averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.75 steals during the Johnnies’ four-game winning streak.
Beyond the numbers, the 6-foot-6 Brooklyn native accomplished the little things like making the extra pass, showing power on the glass, and playing better defense than he has all year. Ta.
And he did it even though his ankle has been bothering him since missing the Dec. 30 game against Hofstra.
“He’s been injured all year,” Pitino said. “And let me tell you this: 95 percent of people won’t care about his past outbursts.”
Asked about his injury, Ledrum escaped injury. Yes, he feels uncomfortable. But he can’t leave the place.
“Anytime I can play, I’m going to play,” he said. “As a young football player, I learned there’s a difference between getting hurt and being hurt. When you’re hurt, you have to play.”
Overall, Ledrum’s numbers are down from where he was last winter, when he was a first-team All-Ivy League selection and averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds at Harvard.
His role is different. He’s more of an upbeat guy than a reliable scorer. However, Ledlam accepted the role and gave his best effort.
Coach Pitino has been trying to reduce his playing time, believing that his excessive workload is having a negative impact on his work, and that seems to be working.
Ledrum joins fellow Ivy League transfer Jordan Dingle (Penn State), center Joel Soriano and wing Glen Taylor Jr. as one of several St. John’s players to have never played in the NCAA Tournament. There is only one person.
All of them ultimately chose to come to Queens with the desire to dance.
That seemed unlikely for a while this winter, when the Johnnies dropped eight of 10 games to get out of the bubble.
However, after this four-game winning streak, they are back in the team. A series of results went against Johnny’s approach, and most bracketologists have now adopted them.
“I see it everywhere. I can’t comment on it because I don’t really understand it,” Ledrum said. “We’re glad things are going well. But we’re just focused on taking care of business.”
