How St. John’s basketball alumni performed in the 2025 NBA Summer League

Seven former Johnnies made a Summer League roster, with Daniss Jenkins and David Jones-Garcia particularly making strong impressions

With the Charlotte Hornets taking down the Sacramento Kings to win their franchise’s first-ever NBA Summer League Title on Sunday night, all NBA Summer League action for 2025 came to a close. This year, seven former Johnnies were able to earn Summer League roster spots, six of which were players who suited up for Rick Pitino’s first two Red Storm squads.

While no former Johnny was on one of the top four Summer League teams who advanced to the playoffs, a few guys were able to add some stock to their name with solid performances, as we look back on the performances of all the former Red Storm players in this year’s Summer League.

RJ Luis Jr.

The only former St. John’s player on a Summer League roster who did not appear in a game was 2025 Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. After going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz. He was listed on Utah’s Summer League roster for both the Salt Lake City Summer League in Utah and the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas, but did not appear in any contests due to left knee soreness. The Jazz went 3-0 in the Salt Lake City Summer League and 1-4 in the NBA Summer League.

Deivon Smith

Deivon Smith, the speedy combo guard who was an impact player on last season’s team, earned a spot on Atlanta’s Summer League roster. He appeared in the final two of the Hawks’ five games, coming off the bench against the Grizzlies and Celtics, respectively. Against Memphis, Smith played 10 minutes, and had 4 points, three rebounds, and three assists in a 92-88 victory. In Atlanta’s 101-80 loss to Boston, which was their only loss of Summer League, Deivon had 6 points, two rebounds, and two assists in 20 minutes played, and had the opportunity to face off against former teammate Aaron Scott.

Aaron Scott

Scott earned a spot on the Celtics Summer League Roster after a strong senior year in his lone St. John’s season, where he showed his ability to defend at an elite level. He appeared in two of Boston’s five Summer League games, making his debut against the Knicks in their second game, as he recorded a steal in five minutes off the bench. His other appearance came in the aforementioned matchup against the Hawks, where he logged 20 minutes off the bench and recorded 3 points, nine rebounds (7 offensive), three assists, one steal, and one block. The Celtics went 4-1 in Summer League and won both games Scott appeared in.

Kadary Richmond

The final player from last season’s Big East Championship team to earn a summer league roster spot was guard Kadary Richmond, who earned All-Big East Second Team honors in his only season for the Storm, after previously making an All-Big East First Team with Seton Hall.

Richmond played for the Washington Wizards in this year’s Summer League, appearing in their third and fourth of five games. In his first appearance, in a 74-58 loss to the 76ers, Richmond had 2 points, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals in 26 minutes off the bench. He was only able to go 1-6 from the field, but contributed on the other end of the floor as one of the primary defenders on #3 pick VJ Edgecombe. His second appearance came in an 86-76 loss to the Jazz, where he played 12 minutes and had 2 points, three rebounds, and four assists.

Chris Ledlum

Having started at power forward for the Red Storm in Rick Pitino’s first season in 2023-24 after three seasons at Harvard, Chris Ledlum earned a spot on the Houston Rockets’ Summer League roster after a successful first season of professional ball, which saw him win the Most Valuable Player award in the second division of French basketball. Ledlum came off the bench in all five of Houston’s Summer League games, averaging 16.7 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks. His best performance came when he had 16 points, three rebounds, and three blocks in a 111-108 overtime loss to the Hawks, as the Rockets finished 1-4 in Summer League.

Daniss Jenkins

Daniss Jenkins made the All-Big East Second Team as the point guard for the 2023-24 St. John’s squad, which earned him a Two-Way contract with the Detroit Pistons. Last year, Jenkins appeared in seven games for the Pistons while also excelling for the Motor City Cruise, their G-League affiliate, earning All-G-League Rookie Team honors. Jenkins appeared in all five of Detroit’s Summer League contests, starting the first four of them, and averaged 14.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 22.6 minutes per game.

The former All-Big East guard had an 18-point performance against the Knicks, posted 23 points and six assists over Chris Ledlum’s Rockets, and had a 16 point, 10 assist double-double against Miami. The Pistons finished with a 3-2 Summer League record, and Jenkins’s performance was good enough to earn him some consideration for a guaranteed contract and rotation spot with Detroit this upcoming season.

David Jones-Garcia

The only former Johnny in this year’s summer league who played under Mike Anderson was forward David Jones-Garcia, who suited up for the Red Storm in the 2022-23 season. Jones-Garcia spent his first two college seasons at DePaul, before spending one season with St. John’s, where he left after one season and made an All-AAC First Team with Memphis in his final collegiate season.

Jones-Garcia joined Daniss Jenkins on the NBA G League All-Rookie Team playing for the Salt Lake City Stars, the affiliate of the Utah Jazz. He played for the San Antonio Spurs in this year’s Summer League and was a standout performer, being called the Spurs Summer League MVP.

Appearing in all eight of San Antonio’s games across the California Classic and 2K26 Summer League, and making six starts, Jones-Garcia averaged 22.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 27.6 minutes per game, registering six 20-point performances. On Wednesday, the Spurs officially announced David Jones-Garcia was signed to a two-way contract.