St. John's Postgame Quotes- Colgate - St. John's University Athletics

Head Coach Rick Pitino

Opening statement:
“I know the final score doesn’t warrant this statement I’m going to make, but I was really nervous going into this basketball game because of the way they run their offense. Their offense is really difficult to guard. But our guys, especially in the second half, did a terrific job.”

On Quinn Ellis…
“What he did on the one drive into the dunk and what he did right before the half is as cerebral a basketball player as you can have. He’s an amazing, amazing player with an incredible IQ, and guys on this team are really lucky to have him at the point guard.”

On Ruben Prey’s impact tonight…
“I thought he was the Ruben of last year, where he was just flying all over the place and he did a really good job just constantly moving on offense and defense.”

On his players embracing playing defense and rebounding…
“I think both [Keyshawn Hall] and [Tounde Yessoufou] have embraced it because they haven’t been known as that and I said to them 'what’s going to move you up in the draft is not your offense. Everybody knows you. It’s going to be your defense.”

Junior Forward Ruben Prey

On the impact of Tounde Yessoufou…
“He’s a guy that has a lot of motor, a lot of energy and definitely brings it all on the court. He helps in multiple facets of the game: rebounding, energy, defense, scoring and just a great talent to play with.”

Senior Guard Quinn Ellis

On Coach Pitino calling him and Ian Jackson the best backcourt in the country…
“It’s a big compliment for me and Ian. We just try to use it as motivation, and he showed us that he has confidence in us, and we just want to keep playing hard and keep doing the right things.”