Know Your Team: Montay Brandon, Jesse Jones and Ryan Richardson
Basketball is a team sport and a lot goes into the making up of a successful team. In the 2019-20 season, the St. John's Edge invested in a varied array of talent with differing degrees of professional experience - and saw that investment pay off big time for them.
Montay Brandon
6'8
Guard
From Greensboro, North Carolina
Brandon went from Wesleyan Christian Academy to the Florida State Seminoles in Division 1 of the NCAA. He played four seasons, setting a team record of 122 games played. In his first two seasons he finished in the top ten for scoring, rebounding and assists. He posted a career-best 11.8 points per game junior year, while his 5.6 rebounding average was the best on the team.
After graduating, he played one game for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2016 Orlando Summer League before suiting up for Walferdange in Luxembourg. He then spent the 2017-18 season with the Kagawa Five Arrows in Japan, playing 54 games and averaging 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. Staying in Asia, he would represent the CLS Knights Indonesia in eight ASEAN League games, averaging a double-double of 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds.
Joining the Edge in 2019, he would go on to be a big part of the team's rotation, with 11.7 scoring average and a team-high 11.6 rebounds per game.
Jesse Jones
6'0
Guard
From Irvington, New Jersey
Starting out at Hudson Catholic School, Jones would play two seasons with the Passaic County Panthers in New Jersey before making the move to the NCAA Division 2 with the Bridgeport Purple Knights.
In his first year he had 14.1 points per game, helping the team to a 24-6 record and a place in the Division 2 championship, but the team lost the first game 88-75 against the Southern Connecticut Owls. In his senior year, Jones played 29 games for Bridgeport and averaged 12.5 points.
In 2018, he was named among the top NBA G League prospects, but eventually did not join a team. The St. John's Edge would be the first team he would play professionally for, but you wouldn't have thought so looking at his numbers. In an outstanding pro debut, Jones finished the season with the team's fourth-highest scoring average, 11.9 points in 12 games.
Picture: Ryan MacLellan
Ryan Richardson
6'4
Guard
From Mesa, Arizona
At Dobson High School, Richardson set a school record 110 three pointers, at the same time competing for the Arizona Compton Magic in the AAU. His efforts at this stage earned him a place on the Weber State Wildcats roster.
As a sophomore he competed in the NCAA Division 1 tournament, but the Wildcats lost in the first round 71-53 to Xavier. He saw his biggest successes as a senior, where he started in all 31 games and had career-best stats of 13.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He was also named to the Big Sky third team.
He made his pro debut in the Netherlands for the Dutch Windmills in Dordrecht, starting in 23 out of 25 games, averaging 13.8 points in each. He then signed with the Edge, appearing in 16 games, starting in each, and scoring an average 10.6 points in each.
