St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 22/20 St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Virginia
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor spoke with the media after St. John’s 80-55 win against Virginia
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“I'm really impressed with our guys coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss. To respond that way is extremely impressive, both offensively as well as defensively. Sometimes when you only have a job for one year, you search for things that you love about a place. And tonight, I found out what I loved about St. John's since being here - to see the fans chanting ‘Zuby’ [Ejiofor], I thought they were chanting something to do with Virginia's nickname, but the chants ‘Zuby’ the whole game, that doesn't happen anywhere in America. I was really, really impressed with our fans, and thank them for making Zuby feel good because he gives you all energy. RJ [Luis Jr.] had another great night. He does so many things defensively. You don't recognize it because he does so many good things offensively, but he's a great steal guy, great on the ball defender, really makes it difficult. When you're one of the best offensive players and you're the best defensive player, that's pretty special. So proud of the guys. Gave us a big lift today, emotionally.”
On last night’s loss to No. 13 Baylor compared to tonight’s win over Virginia...
“We talked a lot about it. I told them I’ve been coaching a long time. Because of the shot clock situation, because of the way they game ended, that was probably more difficult than even the Duke loss to Christian Laettner [in the NCAA Tournament] because of the way it ended. … They didn't play tired mentally or physically, didn't hang their heads, just came out and took care of business against a team that could nail threes and keep you in the game.”
On playing a tougher schedule this season…
“Last year, we weren’t ready early in the year. We were feeling it out. It was my first year. I had 13 players that I never coached before. We got blown out by Michigan. We got beat by Boston College. Beat by Dayton. We made up our mind that was not going to happen again. We also had five guys returning. We had RJ [Luis Jr.], we had Sadiku [Ibine Ayo], Simeon [Wilcher]. We had Zuby [Ejiofor] and Brady [Dunlap] all returning, all knowing, and that's important. We have a good nucleus right now, good newcomers, very wise newcomers. We have a really good basketball team. We're not afraid to play anybody, but we respect everyone.”
On RJ Luis Jr.’s progression from last season…
“I'm not sure what he can't master. He's a great passer, he shoots it really well with good form. He's a shot blocker, he's a great athlete, he's a great defensive player. So, he's mastered every skill and he's done it through hard work. This summer he paid the price to change his shot. He did a great job with that. I sent him pictures of what I wanted with Joel Embiid’s shot and RJ has mastered that. His shot looks great every time he takes it. He’s has a good mid-range game, goes to the basket, makes his free throws. I don't know how much more he can do. He's very impressive. I think he's a top 10 player in the nation. I said he was a lock [NBA Draft] First Round choice because he's going to be a better pro than he is a college player. I'm not taking anything away from him, but he's going to be a better pro.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On the fans chanting Zuby Ejiofor’s name pregame…
“I think it was great. I was chanting with them, so it was good. That kind of hit me a little differently because I had to room with him before he went to sleep [last night]. I was trying to make sure his head was on straight before he went to bed. I told him ‘You know, it's a tough loss. We can't get it back. Just move on to the next page’. We took care of business today. Now we have to prepare for Georgia. It was great to see them uplift him like that and he was smiling. I didn't think he knew how to take it. It was good to see.”
On the fan support in the Bahamas…
“It was just amazing, even from the Baylor game, how the fans came and supported us. It's really special and the type of energy behind us, I'm very appreciative of it.”
On bouncing back from yesterday’s loss to Baylor…
“Today, when we came in this morning, we had breakfast, we had film. Coach [Pitino] kind of talked about it, but we didn't really want to be thinking about last night. Obviously, it hurts, but good teams know how to bounce back from losses like that.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor `
On the fans chanting his name pregame…
“Obviously, it was a surprise to me and to my family. It felt good and I really want to thank the fans of St John's for making me feel good and making me feel warm inside. Like Coach Pitino said, there's not a lot of programs that are going to do that and to get that even before tip-off. Obviously, last night was really emotional for me. To come out like that and chant my name and make me feel good before tip-off, I couldn't play for anyone else. “
On tonight’s bounce back performance…
“It’s important to bounce back and not think about the past, that's exactly what we did. And everybody stepped up huge tonight, every single one of us. My boy Jaiden Glover got his first career points and stuff like that. We're all excited for each other. We all lifted each other up throughout the entire game. We didn't let up at a single moment and we just moved on and left the past in the past. We look towards the future and that's what we did.”
On his mindset heading into today…
“It was pretty hard. Obviously, I would love to have [yesterday] back, but just move on. It was an emotional night for me. I would have loved to ice the game and come up with that victory, which we would all love to do. But you can't change the past, so just look forward to the next games. And now it's on to Georgia.”
Opening statement…
“I'm really impressed with our guys coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss. To respond that way is extremely impressive, both offensively as well as defensively. Sometimes when you only have a job for one year, you search for things that you love about a place. And tonight, I found out what I loved about St. John's since being here - to see the fans chanting ‘Zuby’ [Ejiofor], I thought they were chanting something to do with Virginia's nickname, but the chants ‘Zuby’ the whole game, that doesn't happen anywhere in America. I was really, really impressed with our fans, and thank them for making Zuby feel good because he gives you all energy. RJ [Luis Jr.] had another great night. He does so many things defensively. You don't recognize it because he does so many good things offensively, but he's a great steal guy, great on the ball defender, really makes it difficult. When you're one of the best offensive players and you're the best defensive player, that's pretty special. So proud of the guys. Gave us a big lift today, emotionally.”
On last night’s loss to No. 13 Baylor compared to tonight’s win over Virginia...
“We talked a lot about it. I told them I’ve been coaching a long time. Because of the shot clock situation, because of the way they game ended, that was probably more difficult than even the Duke loss to Christian Laettner [in the NCAA Tournament] because of the way it ended. … They didn't play tired mentally or physically, didn't hang their heads, just came out and took care of business against a team that could nail threes and keep you in the game.”
On playing a tougher schedule this season…
“Last year, we weren’t ready early in the year. We were feeling it out. It was my first year. I had 13 players that I never coached before. We got blown out by Michigan. We got beat by Boston College. Beat by Dayton. We made up our mind that was not going to happen again. We also had five guys returning. We had RJ [Luis Jr.], we had Sadiku [Ibine Ayo], Simeon [Wilcher]. We had Zuby [Ejiofor] and Brady [Dunlap] all returning, all knowing, and that's important. We have a good nucleus right now, good newcomers, very wise newcomers. We have a really good basketball team. We're not afraid to play anybody, but we respect everyone.”
On RJ Luis Jr.’s progression from last season…
“I'm not sure what he can't master. He's a great passer, he shoots it really well with good form. He's a shot blocker, he's a great athlete, he's a great defensive player. So, he's mastered every skill and he's done it through hard work. This summer he paid the price to change his shot. He did a great job with that. I sent him pictures of what I wanted with Joel Embiid’s shot and RJ has mastered that. His shot looks great every time he takes it. He’s has a good mid-range game, goes to the basket, makes his free throws. I don't know how much more he can do. He's very impressive. I think he's a top 10 player in the nation. I said he was a lock [NBA Draft] First Round choice because he's going to be a better pro than he is a college player. I'm not taking anything away from him, but he's going to be a better pro.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On the fans chanting Zuby Ejiofor’s name pregame…
“I think it was great. I was chanting with them, so it was good. That kind of hit me a little differently because I had to room with him before he went to sleep [last night]. I was trying to make sure his head was on straight before he went to bed. I told him ‘You know, it's a tough loss. We can't get it back. Just move on to the next page’. We took care of business today. Now we have to prepare for Georgia. It was great to see them uplift him like that and he was smiling. I didn't think he knew how to take it. It was good to see.”
On the fan support in the Bahamas…
“It was just amazing, even from the Baylor game, how the fans came and supported us. It's really special and the type of energy behind us, I'm very appreciative of it.”
On bouncing back from yesterday’s loss to Baylor…
“Today, when we came in this morning, we had breakfast, we had film. Coach [Pitino] kind of talked about it, but we didn't really want to be thinking about last night. Obviously, it hurts, but good teams know how to bounce back from losses like that.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor `
On the fans chanting his name pregame…
“Obviously, it was a surprise to me and to my family. It felt good and I really want to thank the fans of St John's for making me feel good and making me feel warm inside. Like Coach Pitino said, there's not a lot of programs that are going to do that and to get that even before tip-off. Obviously, last night was really emotional for me. To come out like that and chant my name and make me feel good before tip-off, I couldn't play for anyone else. “
On tonight’s bounce back performance…
“It’s important to bounce back and not think about the past, that's exactly what we did. And everybody stepped up huge tonight, every single one of us. My boy Jaiden Glover got his first career points and stuff like that. We're all excited for each other. We all lifted each other up throughout the entire game. We didn't let up at a single moment and we just moved on and left the past in the past. We look towards the future and that's what we did.”
On his mindset heading into today…
“It was pretty hard. Obviously, I would love to have [yesterday] back, but just move on. It was an emotional night for me. I would have loved to ice the game and come up with that victory, which we would all love to do. But you can't change the past, so just look forward to the next games. And now it's on to Georgia.”