St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: ST. JOHN’S MEDIA AVAILABILITY QUOTES
St. John’s Men’s Basketball’s redshirt junior Dylan Darling and senior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo spoke with the media on Thursday ahead of the Red Storm’s regular-season finale at Seton Hall
Redshirt junior Dylan Darling
On this year being the most enjoyable basketball year of his life…
“This year has been a lot of fun, especially coming from where I came from. Coming from Idaho State last year, we were playing in a 3,000-seat gym with probably 1,000 people in there to now playing in The Garden having it being sold out, having it being jumping. It’s been a lot of fun and it’s been a lot of fun to be able to experience it with my parents who’ve been there with me through and through.”
On how the coaching staff treated the win over Georgetown…
“A lot of our wins are treated like losses. It’s not just Georgetown. I would say over half of our wins are treated like losses, so it’s nothing new that we’re not used to.”
On what Coach Pitino seeks in a win…
“He wants domination from the time the ball is tipped until the end, until the last buzzer sounds. He wants pure domination and anything less than that, he’s not happy with.”
On if that mentality is why the team has been winning…
“Yeah, and I think that’s what makes Coach P one of the greats. I think he just demands excellence out of all his teams, out of all his players, and I think that’s why over time his teams just keep getting better and better.”
On what it would mean to win his first conference championship…
“I think that anytime you can win the league in whatever league you’re in, that’s a pretty special thing. To be able to finish in the BIG EAST 18-2, that’s really hard to do. That would be a testimony to everybody involved in this thing, and it would be really special and really cool.”
On Joson Sanon…
“Joson’s probably the best all-around scorer I’ve ever been around.”
Senior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On the chance of winning the BIG EAST Conference title…
“I think that’s all we preach in the locker room right now. Because you had a great chance and you’re blessed to go back-to-back. Why not? So it’s something that we’ve spoken about it yesterday in practice and in the locker room, trying to get that in the guys’ head that we’re winning the championship.”
On winning championships…
“I’m blessed to be able to win at every level and I’m very grateful to call myself a winner. That’s what I’m telling all the young guys in practice that we get a chance to win a championship, we should do it.”
On how he’s seen the team evolve…
“We end up having the joy of playing within each other and knowing what’s at stake and getting to know each other really well.”
On this year being the most enjoyable basketball year of his life…
“This year has been a lot of fun, especially coming from where I came from. Coming from Idaho State last year, we were playing in a 3,000-seat gym with probably 1,000 people in there to now playing in The Garden having it being sold out, having it being jumping. It’s been a lot of fun and it’s been a lot of fun to be able to experience it with my parents who’ve been there with me through and through.”
On how the coaching staff treated the win over Georgetown…
“A lot of our wins are treated like losses. It’s not just Georgetown. I would say over half of our wins are treated like losses, so it’s nothing new that we’re not used to.”
On what Coach Pitino seeks in a win…
“He wants domination from the time the ball is tipped until the end, until the last buzzer sounds. He wants pure domination and anything less than that, he’s not happy with.”
On if that mentality is why the team has been winning…
“Yeah, and I think that’s what makes Coach P one of the greats. I think he just demands excellence out of all his teams, out of all his players, and I think that’s why over time his teams just keep getting better and better.”
On what it would mean to win his first conference championship…
“I think that anytime you can win the league in whatever league you’re in, that’s a pretty special thing. To be able to finish in the BIG EAST 18-2, that’s really hard to do. That would be a testimony to everybody involved in this thing, and it would be really special and really cool.”
On Joson Sanon…
“Joson’s probably the best all-around scorer I’ve ever been around.”
Senior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On the chance of winning the BIG EAST Conference title…
“I think that’s all we preach in the locker room right now. Because you had a great chance and you’re blessed to go back-to-back. Why not? So it’s something that we’ve spoken about it yesterday in practice and in the locker room, trying to get that in the guys’ head that we’re winning the championship.”
On winning championships…
“I’m blessed to be able to win at every level and I’m very grateful to call myself a winner. That’s what I’m telling all the young guys in practice that we get a chance to win a championship, we should do it.”
On how he’s seen the team evolve…
“We end up having the joy of playing within each other and knowing what’s at stake and getting to know each other really well.”