Give Kyle Smith an assist.
When St. John’s explored adding Dylan Darling last spring, Kyle Smith — the former Columbia and Washington State coach now at Stanford — urged the Red Storm to pursue the Idaho State transfer.
Smith and St. John’s assistant coach Bob Walsh were college roommates, and Smith was convinced Darling wouldn’t just be a fit in Queens; he’d be a difference-maker.
“I told Bob Walsh, I don’t know any coach who wouldn’t love what he’s about,” Smith recalled over the phone with The Post a day after Darling’s layup at the buzzer Sunday against Kansas sent fifth-seeded St. John’s to its first Sweet 16 since 1999. “I know Coach [Rick] Pitino likes the grinders, and Dylan is that. He’s a relentless guy, period.”