St. John's second-leading scorer Rysheed Jordan has returned to practice and will play against Villanova on Tuesday night, Red Storm head coach Steve Lavin announced Monday.
Jordan, a sophomore out of Philadelphia averaging 14 points per game for the Red Storm, took a leave of absence from the team on Friday for personal and family matters after the death of his grandmother Roslyn “Bootsie” Walker.
Jordan missed St. John's game against Butler last Saturday, a 73-69 loss, the Red Storm's second consecutive defeat.
In two games against Villanova last season, Jordan combined for 25 points and 11 rebounds.
"He does seem to step it up against us," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said Monday at practice. "He's a tough guard for us because he's a quick guard with great size. Usually, you've got one or the other, but that's what makes him great."
At Roberts Vaux High School in Philadelphia, Jordan was named the 2012-13 PIAA State Player of the Year in 2012-13 before committing to St. John's.
No. 8 Villanova (13-1, 1-1 Big East), which suffered its first loss of the season at Seton Hall on Saturday, travels to Madison Square Garden to take on No. 24 St. John's (11-3, 0-2 Big East) at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
News
"[St. John's is] going to be tough to guard," Wright said Saturday after his team's loss. "Smaller teams like that, that are quick and shoot threes — I think that's what we struggled with a little bit with Seton Hall. A lot of loose ball rebounds they came up with. A lot of times we got rebounds, and they ripped it out of our hands. It's quickness. It's quickness and speed. We're going to learn a lesson from that."