Kadary Richmond, the Seton Hall guard who committed to St. John's in April, signed a multi-year endorsement deal with New Balance worth approximately $250,000, making him the first men's basketball transfer portal player to secure a major shoe contract before stepping on campus. The deal was finalized three weeks after his commitment, according to two people familiar with the terms.
Richmond averaged 15.7 points and 6.7 assists last season at Seton Hall. He enters St. John's as Rick Pitino's highest-profile portal addition following the program's first Sweet 16 appearance since 2000. The New Balance contract includes cash payments, product allocations, and performance incentives tied to postseason advancement. Richmond wore Nike at Seton Hall; the switch required no NCAA waiver because he changed schools.
The timing matters because apparel brands historically reserved shoe deals for elite high school recruits, not portal transfers. New Balance signed Kawhi Leonard to a reported $5 million annual deal in 2019 and built a basketball division around scarcity. Richmond's deal signals the brand views portal players—who arrive with three years of college film and social followings—as lower-risk bets than 18-year-olds. St. John's plays in the Big East, which airs 46 games on Fox and FS1 this season. Richmond will appear in at least 20 nationally televised games, roughly double the exposure of a mid-major freshman.
For Pitino, the deal creates recruiting leverage. St. John's operates a modest NIL collective compared to SEC programs, but the New Balance relationship—Pitino has worn the brand since his Louisville tenure—gives the program a differentiated pitch. Portal targets now see a path to shoe money without waiting for the NBA. Richmond's agent, Austin Walton of Equity Sports Group, structured the deal to include a trigger: if Richmond declares for the 2025 NBA Draft and goes in the first round, New Balance retains matching rights on his rookie shoe contract. That clause appears in fewer than 10% of college endorsement deals, per three agents who reviewed the terms.
The apparel strategy also hedges against rule changes. The NCAA's pending roster caps and scholarship expansions will shrink walk-on spots, pushing more contributors into the portal. Brands that lock portal talent early—before they prove themselves at blue-blood programs—capture upside at high school recruit pricing. Richmond's $250,000 deal costs New Balance less than half what Under Armour reportedly paid UCLA freshman Eric Freeny ($600,000 over two years), despite Richmond carrying more proven production.
St. John's merchandise sales jumped 41% in the two weeks following the Sweet 16 loss to UConn, according to Fanatics data shared with the Big East office. The Richmond signing landed during that window. New Balance will produce a co-branded "Red Storm" colorway of Richmond's signature shoe for fall release, with St. John's receiving a 12% royalty on net sales—a revenue line the athletic department did not budget for this fiscal year.
Two things to watch: whether other Big East portal additions land shoe deals before July (Creighton's Isaac Traudt and Marquette's Kam Jones both switched agencies in May), and whether New Balance pursues football portal quarterbacks next cycle. Richmond's contract includes a clause requiring 12 social media posts across Instagram and TikTok; his combined following sits at 87,000, modest by NIL standards but growing 9% monthly since the commitment.
The deal went unsigned until Richmond completed his final exams at Seton Hall. He announced it the day after grades posted, wearing New Balance 650s to his first St. John's workout.
The takeaway
First major shoe deal for a portal transfer signals apparel brands now value proven college production over high school projection.
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