WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the court with the Big East Player of the Year and multiple five-star recruits, it was a small guard from Spokane, Wash., who averages under seven points per game and hadn’t scored all day, who took the final shot.
But to anybody following St. John’s closely over the course of the season, Dylan Darling’s ability to step up in a big moment isn’t anything new. So head coach Rick Pitino wasn’t surprised when he drove right past Elmarko Jackson and dropped in a game-winning buzzer-beater layup
Advertisement
In fact, it may just have been the natural outcome that Pitino expected. Completing a crescendo of key plays made by Darling throughout the season. It gave the Red Storm a 67-65 win over Kansas to send the program to the nation’s capital for its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
After an 88-83 win over Xavier where Darling made the go-ahead basket in January, Pitino said that he had “balls as big as church bells.”
He took over the second half defensively and ripped off a game-sealing steal and score against Seton Hall later that month. When he hit a few big shots to close out UConn in early February, Pitino said that “they just keep growing and growing.”
And while the main story of St. John’s success this year may be one about playing big, with Zuby Ejiofor alongside Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell, it’s Darling who has come through time and time again.
Advertisement
The “church bells” line took on a life of its own. Now, Pitino simply refers to Darling as “Bells,” as he did in the direct aftermath of the Kansas winner.
“We’re going to run a play, but they’ve got fouls to give,” Pitino said. “And Bells come up to me and says, run power. So, I walk away and I said, wait a second. He hasn’t scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself? But he’s Bells. And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand.”
Darling’s former coach wishes he had come up with that one himself.
“It’s pretty unique,” Idaho State head coach Ryan Looney told Mid-Major Madness.
Advertisement
Looney and Darling are both graduates of Spokane’s Central Valley High School. As a senior, Darling was a phenomenon. He won 4A State Player of the Year, averaging over 30 points per game, but even before he made it to high school, he was clearly above his peers.
Isaac Richardson practiced with Darling at AAU program No Mercy For Failure throughout middle school and remembered the first time he shared a court with him.
“You could just kind of tell he was a different athlete than everyone around,” Richardson told Mid-Major Madness. “We played for one of the better AAU programs in the east side of the state, and he still clearly stood out above everyone else in terms of just pure athleticism and basketball skill.”
Richardson says that whenever he wanted to, Darling could get to his spin move, and it was an automatic layup in eastern Washington.
Advertisement
By the time they got to high school, the two were rivals in the same conference, and Darling’s legend continued to grow.
Richardson recalls getting off the bus after one of his high school games and a friend looking over and asking if he saw how many points Darling scored.
“It was like 60-something, maybe even 70,” Richardson said. “Especially in the league we played in, it was just kind of unheard of.”
Those performances attracted Looney to come back to his alma mater, recruiting Darling hard during his junior and senior seasons. Idaho State was Darling’s only Division-I offer until after his senior year. But with the clout of winning the aforementioned state player of the year award, Washington State, then coached by Kyle Smith, swooped in to keep the point guard in the eastern part of the state.
But it never quite worked out in Pullman. Smith is one of the game’s best evaluators and developers, but Darling wasn’t ready to play big minutes as a freshman – which surprised Richardson and many in the Spokane area – sitting behind TJ Bamba, Justin Powell and Jabe Mullins.
Advertisement
In his sophomore season, Darling got injured after just three games and decided to enter the transfer portal. There was only one place that made sense. The first one to buy stock in him.
“I always believed in him,” Looney said. “When he went in the transfer portal, we recruited him again, and he made the decision to come here. And he had one fantastic season.”
Darling’s season at Idaho State was nothing short of legendary. He won Big Sky MVP, becoming the first Bengal to win the award in 51 years. He turned it up in conference play, averaging 23.2 points per game in the 18 league games.
That run started with a second-half explosion against Northern Arizona. Trailing by 19, 51-32, Darling scored all 20 of his points in the final 12 minutes, including big plays in the final minutes to defeat the Lumberjacks.
Advertisement
“I think at that moment, we realized we had something,” Looney said. “Nowadays with the transfer portal, taking a guy like Dylan that didn’t have a ton of college experience, I think it took us a little while to realize exactly what we had. I think we knew he was tough and competitive, but as it went on, we realized how well he could score at this level too.”
From that point forward, it was quite clear what Idaho State’s best offense was. Get the ball to Darling, and figure it out from there. Just like he did at the end of the game for St. John’s, Looney said Darling would call his own number, giving him a suggestion on what play to run “all the time.”
But in Pocatello, that came with a lot fewer outside questions. After all, he was the best player on the floor.
Advertisement
“He had extreme burst of speed for this level,” Looney said. “It was hard for anyone to keep him in front one-on-one. He was a really tough finisher, especially with his left hand when he got in the paint.”
Looney and Darling connected, not only as coach and player, but as two people from the same place, chasing the same goal. It’s why Darling announced on April 1, 2025, that he’d be returning to Idaho State.
Very few mid-major conference players of the year return to their previous school with remaining eligibility, so that’s a big deal in today’s landscape. It would’ve made Idaho State the immediate early favorite in the Big Sky.
“He genuinely wanted to return here,” Looney said. “He liked his time at Idaho State, he obviously had a fantastic experience, he was committed to coming back, and then simply, the money related to NIL escalated to a point where he just couldn’t pass it up. I talked through it with him and his dad, and I think we were all under the assumption that at a certain level, it was just going to be too good to pass up.”
Advertisement
Looney said that he heard questions from others about whether Darling would be able to handle tough coaching from Pitino, but he laughed it off.
“Dylan will respond to any type of coaching,” he said.
And it’s clear that that has been the case.
Especially in the biggest moments of St. John’s season.
“He just doesn’t get rattled,” Looney said.
And he’s not the only former coach pleased with Darling’s success.
“Every coach I know is looking for competitors,” Kyle Smith wrote in an email. “Dylan is certainly that with the mindset of a middle linebacker. He receives the highest praise I can ever bestow upon someone, the same compliment my JV Coach once said about me: ‘He is tougher than a leather boot.’”
Advertisement
Back in Spokane, the church bells line has reverberated.
One of their own is a March Madness shining star.
“Even people I know Dylan wasn’t close friends with,” Richardson said. “I’ve heard talk about (church bells).”
