‘I was pretty bad all night long’: How Central Valley grad Dylan Darling managed game-winning layup for St. John’s

St. John’s is finally headed back to the Sweet 16, thanks to Central Valley’s Dylan Darling.

Darling, a junior guard for the Red Storm, converted a difficult, driving layup as time expired, lifting fifth-seeded St. John’s to a 67-65 win over No. 4 seed Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at Viejas Arena in San Diego.

The former Greater Spokane League MVP hadn’t scored before his game-winning bucket. Darling took the ball up the floor with seconds remaining, saw a lane, got an angle on his defender and darted into the paint, putting up a contested layup – almost a running hookshot – with his right hand.

The ball bounced off the backboard and through the net as the buzzer sounded. Darling put his hands up and gestured to the crowd before his teammates mobbed him to celebrate St. John’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.

“Four seconds left, didn’t have time for much,” Darling told TNT reporter Lauren Shehadi after the game as his Red Storm teammates continued to embrace him. “Called on somebody to set me a screen and I went to the rim.”

Darling added when asked what legendary St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said to him before the final possession: “Yelling at me, per usual. Telling me to do something. It was ugly, but we got it done.”

Darling finished with two points on 1 of 5 shooting (0 of 4 from 3-point range). He chipped in four assists, two steals and a rebound in 18 minutes.

During a postgame news conference, Darling said Pitino had another play drawn up, but there wouldn’t be enough time to run it, so Darling “threw the suggestion out, and I don’t think coach really had a choice at that point in time, so we went with it.

“I probably don’t deserve this,” Darling added. “I was pretty bad all night long, but my teammates held it down tonight.”

The left-handed Darling hadn’t made a layup with his right hand this season, according to a post on X from CelticsBlog.com writer Azad Rosay. While breaking down the game-winner during his postgame comments, Pitino said that factored into the play’s success.

“He’s extremely fast. They probably were looking for him to go left. He went right,” Pitino said. “It was the only play we could run, or you could try to throw it into the high-post area, let (star post Zuby Ejiofor) go. But as soon as (Darling) said to me to run (the play), I knew he could get to the rim. He hadn’t done a damn good thing the whole night, so I knew he was going to do it.

“Here’s the amazing thing and the funniest thing I’ve ever been involved with,” Pitino added. “(Darling) comes up to me and says run ‘power,’ which is a high back-screen pick-and-roll. So I walk away … and said, ‘Wait a second, he hasn’t scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself.’ … Not only did he do it, but he went with his right hand. So, real proud of him, because to want the ball when you haven’t made a shot is unbelievable.”

St. John’s (30-6) will meet No. 1 seed Duke (34-2) on Friday in the Sweet 16 at Capital One Arena in Washington , D.C.

Before etching his name into St. John’s lore on Sunday, Darling produced six points (3 of 10 shooting), five rebounds and five assists during the Red Storm’s 79-53 first-round win over No. 12 seed Northern Iowa on Friday. Darling started both games.

The 6-foot-1 junior began his collegiate career in 2022-23 at Washington State after claiming Class 4A Player of the Year honors as a senior at Central Valley High. Darling spent two years in Pullman, then transferred to Idaho State, where he earned Big Sky MVP last season before joining a national contender out of the powerhouse Big East Conference.

Iowa State forward Blake Buchanan

The Lake City High great, a starter for the second-seeded Cyclones, filled up the stat sheet during Iowa State’s 108-74 win over No. 15 seed Tennessee State in the first round on Friday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Buchanan tallied 11 points (5 of 9) and a game-high eight assists, along with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. The 6-foot-10 junior, a Virginia transfer, then helped Iowa State pull away for an 82-63 second-round win over No. 7 seed Kentucky on Sunday, contributing nine points (3 of 8) and a team-high eight rebounds to go with two assists and two steals.

Iowa State meets Virginia/Tennessee on Friday in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.

Buchanan earned Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior after leading Lake City to a Class 5A state title to cap an undefeated 2022-23 season. One of the all-time best Idaho prep prospects, Buchanan signed with Virginia as a four-star recruit.

Purdue center Oscar Cluff

The former Washington State starter, now a senior and key player for the second-seeded Boilermakers, contributed in multiple ways during Purdue’s 104-71 first-round win over 15th-seeded Queens on Friday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Cluff recorded a game-high 11 rebounds, adding nine points (3 of 6), five assists, four blocks and a steal. Two days later, the 6-11 Australia native had a similarly impactful performance, posting eight points (3 of 4), seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks in Purdue’s 79-69 second-round win over No. 7 seed Miami.

The Boilermakers meet No. 11 seed Texas on Thursday in the Sweet 16 in San Jose.

Cluff averaged seven points and 4.4 rebounds per game for WSU’s 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team, then spent last season at South Dakota State before transferring to Purdue. He’s started every game for the Boilermakers this season, averaging 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Florida center Rueben Chinyelu

The SEC Defensive Player of the Year, who spent his freshman season at Washington State, had his least-productive game of the season on Sunday as No. 1 seed Florida got knocked out by ninth-seeded Iowa.

Chinyelu was held scoreless (0 of 1) and managed just one rebound and a steal in 19 minutes during the defending national champions’ 73-72 loss to the Hawkeyes at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa. Chinyelu was in foul trouble for much of the game.

Chinyelu entered the game with the second-highest rebounding average in the nation. In the Gators’ first-round win, a 114-55 rout of Prairie View A&M, Chinyelu totaled 14 points (6 of 9), a game-high 13 rebounds, one assist and one steal in 20 minutes.

The 6-10 junior from Nigeria played for WSU in 2023-24 before transferring to Florida. He started every game for the national champion Gators last year, then emerged as one of the top players in the powerhouse SEC this season.

Texas Tech forward LeJuan Watts

The former Eastern Washington and WSU standout scored a team-high 16 points (5 of 14), adding seven rebounds, one assist and a block during the fifth-seeded Red Raiders’ 90-65 loss to No. 4 seed Alabama on Sunday in Tampa.

Watts had 14 points (6 of 8), six rebounds and two assists in Texas Tech’s 91-71 win over No. 12 seed Akron on Friday in the first round.

The 6-6 junior from Fresno, California, played for EWU in 2023-24, then followed coach David Riley to WSU, where he averaged 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game last season.

Washington forward Brynn McGaughy

The Central Valley/Colfax product registered 13 points (5 of 9), three rebounds, one assist and one steal for the sixth-seeded Huskies during their 62-59 overtime loss to No. 3 seed TCU on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas.

McGaughy, a 6-3 true freshman, had 14 points (5 of 11), four rebounds and two steals in Washington’s 72-54 first-round win over No. 11 seed South Dakota State on Friday.

McGaughy starred at Colfax and became one of the nation’s top recruits before finishing her prep career at Central Valley. She led CV to a state title and an undefeated season last year.

UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker

The Washington State legend, now a sixth-year senior standout for the No. 1 seed Bruins, tallied eight points (3 of 4) and a game-high five assists with five rebounds, one block and a steal in UCLA’s 96-43 first-round win over No. 16 seed Cal Baptist on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

UCLA takes on eighth-seeded Oklahoma State in the second round at 7 p.m. Monday in L.A.

Arguably the best player in WSU women’s basketball history, Leger-Walker was a four-time All-Pac-12 performer for the Cougs. The New Zealand native helped lead the team to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2021-23) and a Pac-12 Conference Tournament title in 2023.

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd

The former longtime Gonzaga assistant (2001-21), Lloyd reached the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season, and fourth time in his five seasons at Arizona. His No. 1 seed Wildcats held off No. 9 seed Utah State 78-66 on Sunday after Arizona breezed past 16th-seeded Long Island 92-58 on Friday in the first round in San Diego. Arizona will play No. 4 seed Arkansas on Thursday in San Jose.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson

Sampson, who got his Division I head-coaching start at WSU (1987-94), hasn’t missed the Sweet 16 since 2018. His second-seeded Houston team opened with a 78-47 rout of 15th-seeded Idaho on Thursday, then rolled past No. 10 seed Texas A&M 88-57 on Saturday in the second round. The Cougars and their elite defense will match up against No. 3 seed Illinois on Thursday in Houston.