St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Michigan (Exhibition)
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino and senior forward Zuby Ejiofor spoke to the media Saturday at Madison Square Garden
Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“I don’t think it gets any better than that for an exhibition game. It was a wonderful game with a great crowd, and for us, it was much needed. We have eight new players and we need to identify our weaknesses and the areas where we have to improve. I was really pleased with the grit we showed, coming back multiple times.”
On what he learned from the exhibition…
“These guys are great, but they’re not together defensively yet because they don’t know each other. We’ve got to figure it out in a hurry, but we’ll make our corrections. This will be a fun team to coach.”
On team mentality…
“They’re definitely playing for the name on the front. They’re great guys and this was a wonderful exhibition game. You’d like to win but sometimes losing helps you understand where you need to improve. The weaknesses come from having eight new guys who just aren’t used to playing together yet, but I saw a lot of really good things.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On using the exhibition as a learning experience…
“Just like [Head] Coach [Rick] Pitino said, we use this game as a learning point to figure out exactly what we need to work on, because there’s a lot that needs to be cleaned up. We got outrebounded and that can’t happen.”
On rediscovering last year’s defensive mindset…
“We’re trying to get back to that defensive mindset we had last year. It’s going to take time, but we’re going to figure it out.”
On setting the standard for the 2025-26 regular season…
“It’s early but we have a tough schedule ahead, so there’s no time to waste. There are no excuses. Winning is the standard we are trying to build here at St. John’s. Everyone came here to win. Whatever it takes, we’re going to figure it out and be better.”
Opening statement…
“I don’t think it gets any better than that for an exhibition game. It was a wonderful game with a great crowd, and for us, it was much needed. We have eight new players and we need to identify our weaknesses and the areas where we have to improve. I was really pleased with the grit we showed, coming back multiple times.”
On what he learned from the exhibition…
“These guys are great, but they’re not together defensively yet because they don’t know each other. We’ve got to figure it out in a hurry, but we’ll make our corrections. This will be a fun team to coach.”
On team mentality…
“They’re definitely playing for the name on the front. They’re great guys and this was a wonderful exhibition game. You’d like to win but sometimes losing helps you understand where you need to improve. The weaknesses come from having eight new guys who just aren’t used to playing together yet, but I saw a lot of really good things.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On using the exhibition as a learning experience…
“Just like [Head] Coach [Rick] Pitino said, we use this game as a learning point to figure out exactly what we need to work on, because there’s a lot that needs to be cleaned up. We got outrebounded and that can’t happen.”
On rediscovering last year’s defensive mindset…
“We’re trying to get back to that defensive mindset we had last year. It’s going to take time, but we’re going to figure it out.”
On setting the standard for the 2025-26 regular season…
“It’s early but we have a tough schedule ahead, so there’s no time to waste. There are no excuses. Winning is the standard we are trying to build here at St. John’s. Everyone came here to win. Whatever it takes, we’re going to figure it out and be better.”