St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: No. 7/7 St. John’s vs. Seton Hall
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, wing RJ Luis Jr. and forward Zuby Ejiofor spoke with the media ahead of the Red Storm’s matchup against the Pirates on Saturday at Madison Square Garden
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On why the team won’t cut down the nets to celebrate a regular-season championship…
“Look, my teams have never cut down the nets for a regular-season championship. I even called Peyton Siva yesterday just to make sure I remember correctly and the players all agree that we have another game to play. It's all premature. We don't know if we're going to win tomorrow, so we aren’t planning anything, and they feel with another game, we shouldn't do it.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“He's always acted like a professional. He's a unique individual. He says all the right things, very articulate. His body is in the best shape of his life and that's good. I'm not sure Kadary was ever in great shape, but he has to be able to play this style of play. The thing I like about Kadary is he still has so many improvements he can make as well.”
On if winning the regular season title or the BIG EAST Tournament title is more special…
“Regular season title, by far, because that's a grind. It's a long season. My son [New Mexico Head Coach Richard Pitino] last year had to win four or five games to win [the Mountain West Tournament championship]. We won back-to-back titles at Louisville, the two conference championships. It's great, but for a lot of teams, it's a way to get into the NCAA Tournament. For us, we're going to be in it, but we want to win both, obviously. But now, the regular season is a very tough thing to do.”
On what winning BIG EAST Coach of the Year would mean to him…
“It wouldn’t mean very much to me at all. I've been blessed to win National Coach of the Year a couple of times, I think, and it was very nice. I would have voted for other people. So, it really doesn't matter to me, individual awards at 72 years of age. I've had way too many blessings in my life.”
On being excited for the fanbase through this winning…
“I am absolutely ecstatic about what the players are going through on a personal level. I'm ecstatic for my son, Ryan, my wife, close friends who have all experienced Madison Square Garden like I did with the Knicks. Ryan was not a ball boy like Richard, Michael and Chris, so this is all new to him. So, I'm excited for him and my family when they visit. And then I'm very excited for our student body because it has livened up the campus. The lacrosse team and baseball teams have been big supporters of ours. I'm super excited for the student body because its added so much for them to take the train or bus into Madison Square Garden and get vouchers from the school to eat and drink. I think it's awesome.”
On Vince Iwuchukwu, Lefteris Liotopoulos and Ruben Prey’s development…
“All three of those guys have really improved over the last month, really improved. Vince has played very well in practice. One of the problems is, because we're not necessarily a great shooting team, when you take Aaron [Scott] out, you lose a lot of shooting, and if you sub Ruben, you don't get the three-point shooting. So, teams are packing it in against us as it is. Lefteris, he's the best shooter on the team from a percentage standpoint, but you don't necessarily get the defensive pressure.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On who the MVP of the team is…
“There's no individualism. It's a team effort. Once the [BIG EAST] awards come out, they come out, but the main goal is to win big. Just sticking together as a unit. From the beginning of the season, I’ve been going hard with these guys, with Zuby [Ejiofor]. It's just great to know how far we've come. But we haven't done anything yet. We want to take care of business on Saturday and finish the season strong. We still have to play Marquette. I'm just going focus on one day at a time.”
On the decision to not cut down the nets to celebrate the regular-season championship…
“I don't have any experience cutting down nets, so I kind of went with how the group was feeling. Coach Pitino said, he's done that a bunch of times, so he said, when you cut down the nets is when you win the BIG EAST Tournament. That's really just the goal and if we do win Saturday, we still have Marquette. The season is not over. Just being humble and not overlooking anybody, because nothing is set in stone yet. Anything can happen. We're going to go out, we're going to play hard like we’ve been doing. It's been a great ride. It's been a great season and I just want to continue building on that.”
On what he thinks Saturday’s game against Seton Hall will be like….
“I think Saturday is going to be a tough game. Seton Hall is a very defensive-minded team. So, I think we have to bring our best game. We can't overlook anybody and I think it's going to be a great game. I think we're going to need all the fan support and the energy that we need so that we could bring it home. Like I said, it's going to be a tough game and I can’t wait to play.”
On how much last season motivated the team…
“I feel like the motivation is in itself. I feel like everybody who plays Division I basketball tries to compete at the highest level and everybody's dream is to go dancing in March. My first two years I struck out, so my third year, just to know that I have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament - to play in the March Madness, it's very special. I just can't wait for that experience. But like I said, you got to take care of business before that and that’s the [regular season] championship and then we have the BIG EAST Tournament and then we'll take care of March Madness. It's a great feeling to know we're right there and it's so close that we could grab it. So, just staying focused and staying together, just having each other's backs, listening to the coaches and just continuing to do what we can to win.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor
On who the MVP of the team is…
“I feel like everybody brings something special to the table. Obviously, we have some guys that are capable of the numbers or anything like that, but that's not how we think. Collectively, we feel like everybody, like I said, brings something to the table. It’s a collective effort to be at the top of the BIG EAST and to essentially be playing for an outright championship on Saturday.”
On the decision to not cut down the nets to celebrate the regular-season championship…
“It was a collective decision. Everybody decided that it's not really the end of the season. Just like RJ [Luis Jr.] said, we haven't really accomplished a lot as of yet, and Saturday is a great opportunity. We know what's at hand, but we still have Marquette to worry about. And Seton Hall, they're a gritty team, especially on the defensive end as well. So, that's going to be a tough game. That's just where our mind is at – just taking care of business Saturday and just moving on.”
On the way last season ended to now…
“It was a pretty sad moment. Not just for us but for everybody as well. The seniors that didn't get a chance to come back to college again. So, seeing the look on their faces as well was a pretty sad moment. Now, just to see where we're at in this moment in our collegiate careers, just being able to play for an outright championship, and being at the top of the top in this league. [The BIG EAST] is really tough to play in and play for. You really got to mentally prepare and physically prepare for each game and each opponent. So, just to see the progress of where we at from year one to year two, individually and collectively. Seeing RJ’s [Luis Jr.] progression throughout the years, and it just means a lot. We're playing not just for ourselves, but for the whole community, and just bringing the championship here.”
On when he believed the team was good enough to win the BIG EAST…
“The biggest is our preparation. It’s how we prepared ourselves all year. I think the coaching staff does a really good job of putting us in the right situations to win each and every game. The countless hours of film sessions, the player development sessions and the time put in on the court. So, I already knew we were a really special group. It always starts on the defensive end. That's kind of been our identity all year, and that's something that the coaching staff has been preaching all year. So, just to see how we progress from that end, and to see our offense finally coming along - it's something that has been really special this whole year. So, I already knew that, like I said, we were going to be a special group. But over the past 10 to 15-game stretches of everybody meshing well and coming together on both sides of the ball, I already knew we had something special at hand.”
On why the team won’t cut down the nets to celebrate a regular-season championship…
“Look, my teams have never cut down the nets for a regular-season championship. I even called Peyton Siva yesterday just to make sure I remember correctly and the players all agree that we have another game to play. It's all premature. We don't know if we're going to win tomorrow, so we aren’t planning anything, and they feel with another game, we shouldn't do it.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“He's always acted like a professional. He's a unique individual. He says all the right things, very articulate. His body is in the best shape of his life and that's good. I'm not sure Kadary was ever in great shape, but he has to be able to play this style of play. The thing I like about Kadary is he still has so many improvements he can make as well.”
On if winning the regular season title or the BIG EAST Tournament title is more special…
“Regular season title, by far, because that's a grind. It's a long season. My son [New Mexico Head Coach Richard Pitino] last year had to win four or five games to win [the Mountain West Tournament championship]. We won back-to-back titles at Louisville, the two conference championships. It's great, but for a lot of teams, it's a way to get into the NCAA Tournament. For us, we're going to be in it, but we want to win both, obviously. But now, the regular season is a very tough thing to do.”
On what winning BIG EAST Coach of the Year would mean to him…
“It wouldn’t mean very much to me at all. I've been blessed to win National Coach of the Year a couple of times, I think, and it was very nice. I would have voted for other people. So, it really doesn't matter to me, individual awards at 72 years of age. I've had way too many blessings in my life.”
On being excited for the fanbase through this winning…
“I am absolutely ecstatic about what the players are going through on a personal level. I'm ecstatic for my son, Ryan, my wife, close friends who have all experienced Madison Square Garden like I did with the Knicks. Ryan was not a ball boy like Richard, Michael and Chris, so this is all new to him. So, I'm excited for him and my family when they visit. And then I'm very excited for our student body because it has livened up the campus. The lacrosse team and baseball teams have been big supporters of ours. I'm super excited for the student body because its added so much for them to take the train or bus into Madison Square Garden and get vouchers from the school to eat and drink. I think it's awesome.”
On Vince Iwuchukwu, Lefteris Liotopoulos and Ruben Prey’s development…
“All three of those guys have really improved over the last month, really improved. Vince has played very well in practice. One of the problems is, because we're not necessarily a great shooting team, when you take Aaron [Scott] out, you lose a lot of shooting, and if you sub Ruben, you don't get the three-point shooting. So, teams are packing it in against us as it is. Lefteris, he's the best shooter on the team from a percentage standpoint, but you don't necessarily get the defensive pressure.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On who the MVP of the team is…
“There's no individualism. It's a team effort. Once the [BIG EAST] awards come out, they come out, but the main goal is to win big. Just sticking together as a unit. From the beginning of the season, I’ve been going hard with these guys, with Zuby [Ejiofor]. It's just great to know how far we've come. But we haven't done anything yet. We want to take care of business on Saturday and finish the season strong. We still have to play Marquette. I'm just going focus on one day at a time.”
On the decision to not cut down the nets to celebrate the regular-season championship…
“I don't have any experience cutting down nets, so I kind of went with how the group was feeling. Coach Pitino said, he's done that a bunch of times, so he said, when you cut down the nets is when you win the BIG EAST Tournament. That's really just the goal and if we do win Saturday, we still have Marquette. The season is not over. Just being humble and not overlooking anybody, because nothing is set in stone yet. Anything can happen. We're going to go out, we're going to play hard like we’ve been doing. It's been a great ride. It's been a great season and I just want to continue building on that.”
On what he thinks Saturday’s game against Seton Hall will be like….
“I think Saturday is going to be a tough game. Seton Hall is a very defensive-minded team. So, I think we have to bring our best game. We can't overlook anybody and I think it's going to be a great game. I think we're going to need all the fan support and the energy that we need so that we could bring it home. Like I said, it's going to be a tough game and I can’t wait to play.”
On how much last season motivated the team…
“I feel like the motivation is in itself. I feel like everybody who plays Division I basketball tries to compete at the highest level and everybody's dream is to go dancing in March. My first two years I struck out, so my third year, just to know that I have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament - to play in the March Madness, it's very special. I just can't wait for that experience. But like I said, you got to take care of business before that and that’s the [regular season] championship and then we have the BIG EAST Tournament and then we'll take care of March Madness. It's a great feeling to know we're right there and it's so close that we could grab it. So, just staying focused and staying together, just having each other's backs, listening to the coaches and just continuing to do what we can to win.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor
On who the MVP of the team is…
“I feel like everybody brings something special to the table. Obviously, we have some guys that are capable of the numbers or anything like that, but that's not how we think. Collectively, we feel like everybody, like I said, brings something to the table. It’s a collective effort to be at the top of the BIG EAST and to essentially be playing for an outright championship on Saturday.”
On the decision to not cut down the nets to celebrate the regular-season championship…
“It was a collective decision. Everybody decided that it's not really the end of the season. Just like RJ [Luis Jr.] said, we haven't really accomplished a lot as of yet, and Saturday is a great opportunity. We know what's at hand, but we still have Marquette to worry about. And Seton Hall, they're a gritty team, especially on the defensive end as well. So, that's going to be a tough game. That's just where our mind is at – just taking care of business Saturday and just moving on.”
On the way last season ended to now…
“It was a pretty sad moment. Not just for us but for everybody as well. The seniors that didn't get a chance to come back to college again. So, seeing the look on their faces as well was a pretty sad moment. Now, just to see where we're at in this moment in our collegiate careers, just being able to play for an outright championship, and being at the top of the top in this league. [The BIG EAST] is really tough to play in and play for. You really got to mentally prepare and physically prepare for each game and each opponent. So, just to see the progress of where we at from year one to year two, individually and collectively. Seeing RJ’s [Luis Jr.] progression throughout the years, and it just means a lot. We're playing not just for ourselves, but for the whole community, and just bringing the championship here.”
On when he believed the team was good enough to win the BIG EAST…
“The biggest is our preparation. It’s how we prepared ourselves all year. I think the coaching staff does a really good job of putting us in the right situations to win each and every game. The countless hours of film sessions, the player development sessions and the time put in on the court. So, I already knew we were a really special group. It always starts on the defensive end. That's kind of been our identity all year, and that's something that the coaching staff has been preaching all year. So, just to see how we progress from that end, and to see our offense finally coming along - it's something that has been really special this whole year. So, I already knew that, like I said, we were going to be a special group. But over the past 10 to 15-game stretches of everybody meshing well and coming together on both sides of the ball, I already knew we had something special at hand.”