St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: No. 6/6 St. John’s at No. 20/20 Marquette
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, guard Kadary Richmond and guard Sadiku Ibine Ayo spoke with the media ahead of the team’s matchup against No. 20/20 Marquette on Saturday in Milwaukee
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On this week’s practices…
“We've practiced great. The only problem is we only have nine people. But the practices have been terrific. It's just we're very short-handed.”
On motivating his team for Saturday’s game against Marquette…
“I don't have to motivate them because they know how important this game is. It's important that we play great basketball. We played a great game against UConn in The Garden, and then the next two, we did not play great basketball, so it's important that, like practices, we get back to playing great basketball. We’re going to need to because it's senior night at Marquette. It's a sold-out arena. It's their last game. They need the game for a lot of reasons. It's going to be a very hostile, maybe the toughest game of the year for us.”
On the team’s experience on The Tonight Show…
“It was a lot of fun. He treated everybody great. He's a real, down-to-earth person, and he was just a great host. The players enjoyed it. I don't know how they did that because every player went through the singing, chest bumping by themselves. All the guys did that by themselves, and then I did it the next day. Then we didn't know how they're going to put it all together.”
On the team’s resilience this season…
“We've had a lot of injuries this year at different times. We've gone through practices. It's been difficult, but it shows you about the resilience of this basketball team. We've gotten through it, we've fought through it, a lot of injuries, and I'm hoping that we go into the tournament healthy.”
How last night’s Tonight Show appearance helps build St. John’s…
“I think it helps building the brand, building the spirit of St. John's. Most importantly, it's fun for the players. It's important to work hard, but it's also important to have fun while you're working hard. Certainly, we had a blast doing that. I told the team, ‘You know, I've been to seven Final Fours, won two national championships as a coach, and we never went on the Tonight Show. So, you're very lucky because you're in the greatest city in the world, and that's why you're on, on that show, and you're in a great conference, the best city in the world, you play at the best arena, the World's Most Famous Arena, as your home court.”
On how his team is preparing for Marquette this weekend…
“I'll prepare for Quinnipiac as if it's the last game I'll coach in my life, and Marquette will be no different than Quinnipiac. So, we can't coach any harder. We can't prepare any harder. Every single out-of-bounds play, every single weakness or strength of the opposition, we will look at over and over and over. We will study it analytically, physically, mentally. So, we can't prepare any harder. We respect every single team we play. I think Marquette is an extremely well-coached team that does not turn the ball over. They are a big steal team. They're very aggressive. They drive the ball probably better than any team in college basketball. So, we know it's a very tough game, but we can't play or prepare any harder than early in the season. We've treated every single game like it's our last one on Earth.”
St John’s guard Kadary Richmond:
On Sadiku Ibine Ayo’s fasting for Ramadan…
“It goes to show that he's very disciplined. He doesn't lose; he doesn't have many distractions going on. He doesn't lose focus. If he wants something, he's going to do whatever it takes to obtain that. So I've learned a lot of things from him these past couple of days while fasting with him. But I've been seeing this since I've come to St John’s”
On having the week off…
“It helped everybody out, mentally and physically. You know, some guys are banged up and probably some guys that are mentally tired. So just to restart and refresh, it is always a good thing.”
On how Coach Pitino has helped him progress on and off the court…
“[Coach Pitino] helps with all the advice he gives us. He gives us different stories about him when he was younger, about his teams and how we were the same, and how we can make an impact on people's lives on the court and off the court. So I say just seeing the growth in myself and in the guys in the locker room from where we started in July is impressive.”
On being a part of St. John’s resurgence this season…
“It feels good going out there and winning. Being from Brooklyn, and that this is a New York team, it feels good for me to go out there and be able to have a historic season like we're having and going to continue to have. It's just a blessing for everyone.”
St. John’s guard Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On the coaching staff…
“I’ve known this coaching staff for three years now, and they care for one another. They make sure we are actually doing the right thing on the court. This year, they did a great job in recruiting and the transfer portal and the freshman. Everybody's bought into what we're trying to do. I think that was special, the way they recruited and brought everybody together. For me, being around Coach [Pitino] for a while, I know what he expects. I also preach those types of things in the locker room, so everybody understands that this is what we need to do on the court, or for Coach [Pitino] to like you. You have to be really serious about your academics. [Coach Pitino] doesn't like talking about that stuff, because he wants to take care of the basketball, and we have to be mature as student-athletes to do what we are supposed to do.”
On Coach Pitino’s NCAA Tournament preparation…
“When it comes to the tournament time, it's different. It's strictly planning to win the game. So we go really hard during this time. It's short and hard. We go really into detail about everything, and then it's just trying to win every single game moving forward.”
On how hard it is to maintain his fasting for Ramadan during the season…
“It's hard, but I've been doing it for a little bit now that I'm able to still have the strength to be able to go through it, but it's hard. Coach [Pitino] himself is going through it as well. He's not cursing or drinking either. So, we just practice very hard, and it's trying to make sure it doesn't kill me like that. So, he kind of gives me a little sub sometimes, or we have a little break for one hour or 45 minutes, so I don't really get tired like that.”
On this week’s practices…
“We've practiced great. The only problem is we only have nine people. But the practices have been terrific. It's just we're very short-handed.”
On motivating his team for Saturday’s game against Marquette…
“I don't have to motivate them because they know how important this game is. It's important that we play great basketball. We played a great game against UConn in The Garden, and then the next two, we did not play great basketball, so it's important that, like practices, we get back to playing great basketball. We’re going to need to because it's senior night at Marquette. It's a sold-out arena. It's their last game. They need the game for a lot of reasons. It's going to be a very hostile, maybe the toughest game of the year for us.”
On the team’s experience on The Tonight Show…
“It was a lot of fun. He treated everybody great. He's a real, down-to-earth person, and he was just a great host. The players enjoyed it. I don't know how they did that because every player went through the singing, chest bumping by themselves. All the guys did that by themselves, and then I did it the next day. Then we didn't know how they're going to put it all together.”
On the team’s resilience this season…
“We've had a lot of injuries this year at different times. We've gone through practices. It's been difficult, but it shows you about the resilience of this basketball team. We've gotten through it, we've fought through it, a lot of injuries, and I'm hoping that we go into the tournament healthy.”
How last night’s Tonight Show appearance helps build St. John’s…
“I think it helps building the brand, building the spirit of St. John's. Most importantly, it's fun for the players. It's important to work hard, but it's also important to have fun while you're working hard. Certainly, we had a blast doing that. I told the team, ‘You know, I've been to seven Final Fours, won two national championships as a coach, and we never went on the Tonight Show. So, you're very lucky because you're in the greatest city in the world, and that's why you're on, on that show, and you're in a great conference, the best city in the world, you play at the best arena, the World's Most Famous Arena, as your home court.”
On how his team is preparing for Marquette this weekend…
“I'll prepare for Quinnipiac as if it's the last game I'll coach in my life, and Marquette will be no different than Quinnipiac. So, we can't coach any harder. We can't prepare any harder. Every single out-of-bounds play, every single weakness or strength of the opposition, we will look at over and over and over. We will study it analytically, physically, mentally. So, we can't prepare any harder. We respect every single team we play. I think Marquette is an extremely well-coached team that does not turn the ball over. They are a big steal team. They're very aggressive. They drive the ball probably better than any team in college basketball. So, we know it's a very tough game, but we can't play or prepare any harder than early in the season. We've treated every single game like it's our last one on Earth.”
St John’s guard Kadary Richmond:
On Sadiku Ibine Ayo’s fasting for Ramadan…
“It goes to show that he's very disciplined. He doesn't lose; he doesn't have many distractions going on. He doesn't lose focus. If he wants something, he's going to do whatever it takes to obtain that. So I've learned a lot of things from him these past couple of days while fasting with him. But I've been seeing this since I've come to St John’s”
On having the week off…
“It helped everybody out, mentally and physically. You know, some guys are banged up and probably some guys that are mentally tired. So just to restart and refresh, it is always a good thing.”
On how Coach Pitino has helped him progress on and off the court…
“[Coach Pitino] helps with all the advice he gives us. He gives us different stories about him when he was younger, about his teams and how we were the same, and how we can make an impact on people's lives on the court and off the court. So I say just seeing the growth in myself and in the guys in the locker room from where we started in July is impressive.”
On being a part of St. John’s resurgence this season…
“It feels good going out there and winning. Being from Brooklyn, and that this is a New York team, it feels good for me to go out there and be able to have a historic season like we're having and going to continue to have. It's just a blessing for everyone.”
St. John’s guard Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On the coaching staff…
“I’ve known this coaching staff for three years now, and they care for one another. They make sure we are actually doing the right thing on the court. This year, they did a great job in recruiting and the transfer portal and the freshman. Everybody's bought into what we're trying to do. I think that was special, the way they recruited and brought everybody together. For me, being around Coach [Pitino] for a while, I know what he expects. I also preach those types of things in the locker room, so everybody understands that this is what we need to do on the court, or for Coach [Pitino] to like you. You have to be really serious about your academics. [Coach Pitino] doesn't like talking about that stuff, because he wants to take care of the basketball, and we have to be mature as student-athletes to do what we are supposed to do.”
On Coach Pitino’s NCAA Tournament preparation…
“When it comes to the tournament time, it's different. It's strictly planning to win the game. So we go really hard during this time. It's short and hard. We go really into detail about everything, and then it's just trying to win every single game moving forward.”
On how hard it is to maintain his fasting for Ramadan during the season…
“It's hard, but I've been doing it for a little bit now that I'm able to still have the strength to be able to go through it, but it's hard. Coach [Pitino] himself is going through it as well. He's not cursing or drinking either. So, we just practice very hard, and it's trying to make sure it doesn't kill me like that. So, he kind of gives me a little sub sometimes, or we have a little break for one hour or 45 minutes, so I don't really get tired like that.”