St. John's University Athletics
BIG EAST MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY QUOTES
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, Oziyah Sellers and Zuby Ejiofor spoke with the media at Madison Square Garden on BIG EAST Media Day
Senior Guard Oziyah Sellers
On being picked as the BIG EAST preseason #1….
“It means a lot and obviously there's expectations on us to perform. I feel like we'll be capable of doing that, so it's exciting.”
On navigating high expectations this season…
“We try not to focus on that too much. [Coach] Pitino tries to keep us level-headed and just focuses on taking each day at a time. That's what we do.”
On five of his teammates being selected for All-BIG EAST honors…
“That means a lot. That means people obviously think highly of them and I feel like they'll also be able to show it, so I'm excited for them. I'm excited for the whole team.”
On playing 13 games at MSG…
“I'm excited. Obviously, I've heard about all the history here, but I've never played at Madison Square Garden. My first time here was a couple of months ago, so I probably won't actually feel that until we suit up this weekend against Michigan. But I'm excited, and it's going to be a lot of fun.”
On being the front-runner versus the underdog…
“You have to bring it every night. You have to bring your best every night. Every team wants to beat you, and they want that target as well. So, I feel like we'll be capable of that.”
Senior Forward Zuby Ejiofor
On being named BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year…
“I’m really grateful for the recognition. Now I use it as something to play towards, right? And I’m just trying to be the best teammate and leader I could possibly be. This is my last year in college, so I’m trying to end it on the right note and be the vocal leader for the rest of the guys.”
On the coaching staff…
“I have a great support system and a great coaching staff around me. They’re able to keep me grounded, and they see where I was successful last year, and we try to piggyback off that. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself to compete at a really high level.”
On preseason expectations…
“We have something to work toward. If you’re going to be the [BIG EAST] preseason number one team, you have to prepare like it, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re going to compete on both sides of the ball every single day, communicate with each other and see how far we can go.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“He’s a leader of our team. We have a very mature team. Dillon is someone with that NCAA Tournament experience. Not a lot of guys have that experience on this team, and he’s someone that’s probably gone the furthest out of all of us. I’m looking for him to lead.”
On being one of the longest-tenured players at St. John’s…
“It comes with trust. Obviously, the coaching staff and Coach Pitino trust me. I’m really grateful for that. Me, being an experienced guy going into my third year under Coach Pitino, I understand his system. I understand him as a person and that’s how I try to lead. The amount of work and time we put in is going to be worth it in the end.”
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On building relationships with players…
“Well, we have something a little different than most places. We do player development sessions for about 45 minutes. I have four players each, every session, so I'm with them. Then they break, and then I see them at practice. So, I see quite a bit of them from an individual play development standpoint and then a team standpoint.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s development and being BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year…
“I said, ‘Zuby, you're like the great defensive rusher in football, who suddenly gets to the quarterback all the time, and now two and three guys are blocking him.’ So it's going to be tougher for him to grab an offensive rebound, and it’s going to be tougher for him to score on the low post. He’s got to let the game come to him.”
On how he approaches coaching…
“It's different. Look, I'm not the same type of coach I was at Kentucky. I was a big brother figure at Kentucky. I was a father figure at Louisville. Now I’m a grandfather figure at St. John's. So, you evolve, you change as the climate changes as well. We're dealing with professional athletes now, so you treat them professionally.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s leadership…
“He’s a fun, loving guy. He plays hard. He’s a great leader. He speaks as much as the assistant coaches in timeouts, and I’ve never allowed players to speak in timeouts. Zuby deserves all the accolades he gets because he’s a humble young man.”
On rotations…
“I think you’re going to find out the starting lineup changes constantly with this basketball team based on matchups. If we’re going against a big team, we’ll play a big lineup. If we’re going against a small team, we’ll go with a small lineup. You’ll know who I think the five best players are with five minutes to go in the game.”
On being picked as the BIG EAST preseason #1….
“It means a lot and obviously there's expectations on us to perform. I feel like we'll be capable of doing that, so it's exciting.”
On navigating high expectations this season…
“We try not to focus on that too much. [Coach] Pitino tries to keep us level-headed and just focuses on taking each day at a time. That's what we do.”
On five of his teammates being selected for All-BIG EAST honors…
“That means a lot. That means people obviously think highly of them and I feel like they'll also be able to show it, so I'm excited for them. I'm excited for the whole team.”
On playing 13 games at MSG…
“I'm excited. Obviously, I've heard about all the history here, but I've never played at Madison Square Garden. My first time here was a couple of months ago, so I probably won't actually feel that until we suit up this weekend against Michigan. But I'm excited, and it's going to be a lot of fun.”
On being the front-runner versus the underdog…
“You have to bring it every night. You have to bring your best every night. Every team wants to beat you, and they want that target as well. So, I feel like we'll be capable of that.”
Senior Forward Zuby Ejiofor
On being named BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year…
“I’m really grateful for the recognition. Now I use it as something to play towards, right? And I’m just trying to be the best teammate and leader I could possibly be. This is my last year in college, so I’m trying to end it on the right note and be the vocal leader for the rest of the guys.”
On the coaching staff…
“I have a great support system and a great coaching staff around me. They’re able to keep me grounded, and they see where I was successful last year, and we try to piggyback off that. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself to compete at a really high level.”
On preseason expectations…
“We have something to work toward. If you’re going to be the [BIG EAST] preseason number one team, you have to prepare like it, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re going to compete on both sides of the ball every single day, communicate with each other and see how far we can go.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“He’s a leader of our team. We have a very mature team. Dillon is someone with that NCAA Tournament experience. Not a lot of guys have that experience on this team, and he’s someone that’s probably gone the furthest out of all of us. I’m looking for him to lead.”
On being one of the longest-tenured players at St. John’s…
“It comes with trust. Obviously, the coaching staff and Coach Pitino trust me. I’m really grateful for that. Me, being an experienced guy going into my third year under Coach Pitino, I understand his system. I understand him as a person and that’s how I try to lead. The amount of work and time we put in is going to be worth it in the end.”
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On building relationships with players…
“Well, we have something a little different than most places. We do player development sessions for about 45 minutes. I have four players each, every session, so I'm with them. Then they break, and then I see them at practice. So, I see quite a bit of them from an individual play development standpoint and then a team standpoint.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s development and being BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year…
“I said, ‘Zuby, you're like the great defensive rusher in football, who suddenly gets to the quarterback all the time, and now two and three guys are blocking him.’ So it's going to be tougher for him to grab an offensive rebound, and it’s going to be tougher for him to score on the low post. He’s got to let the game come to him.”
On how he approaches coaching…
“It's different. Look, I'm not the same type of coach I was at Kentucky. I was a big brother figure at Kentucky. I was a father figure at Louisville. Now I’m a grandfather figure at St. John's. So, you evolve, you change as the climate changes as well. We're dealing with professional athletes now, so you treat them professionally.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s leadership…
“He’s a fun, loving guy. He plays hard. He’s a great leader. He speaks as much as the assistant coaches in timeouts, and I’ve never allowed players to speak in timeouts. Zuby deserves all the accolades he gets because he’s a humble young man.”
On rotations…
“I think you’re going to find out the starting lineup changes constantly with this basketball team based on matchups. If we’re going against a big team, we’ll play a big lineup. If we’re going against a small team, we’ll go with a small lineup. You’ll know who I think the five best players are with five minutes to go in the game.”