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Fox Sports
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Zuby Ejiofor listens to Pitino, delivers solid first pitch at Mets game
Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The basketball season is over, but Zuby Ejiofor is still heeding Rick Pitino's advice. Ejiofor, the 6-foot-9 St. John's forward who earned first-team all-Big East honors while helping the Red Storm to its first conference title in 25 years, threw out the first pitch at Citi Field Wednesday prior to the series finale between the New York Mets and Miami Marlins. 'He gave me a little advice,' Ejiofor said of Pitino, who threw out the first pitch before a Mets-Yankees game in 2023. 'He said not to bounce it.' Despite saying he had 'zero' experience in baseball, Ejiofor's pitch from the top of the mound landed right in the glove of John Franco, the St. John's alum and former Mets closer who stood at the plate in front of eight of Ejiofor's teammates. 'If Zuby takes care of business and doesn't hurt our superstar alumnus here, it'll be a good start for the Mets, the hottest team in baseball,' Pitino said before New York pursued its seventh straight win. Pitino — wearing a personalized No. 41 jersey, the same number retired in Tom Seaver's honor — appeared with Ejiofor, Franco and Red Storm center Vince Iwuchukwu at a pregame press conference. Franco was presented with a St. John's No. 45 uniform — the same number he wore in his final six-plus seasons with the Mets. The 72-year-old Pitino, who was born in New York City and raised on Long Island, recalled going to Yankees games as a child with his sisters but also said he cheered for the Mets. 'I used to go watch Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, reserves like Hector Lopes, Johnny Blanchard, (Tony) Kubek, (Clint) Richardson,' Pitino said. 'But I was also a Mets fan of (Jerry) Koosman, Seaver and going back to Tommy Agee. I'm one of the few people that rooted for both teams. Anything with 'NY' on it, I'm 100% behind it.' Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he enjoyed watching as St. John's became the biggest winter sports story in New York by going 31-5 and winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2000. The Red Storm's season ended with a 75-66 second-round loss to Arkansas. 'When you get a team that is doing something special like they did — we saw it last year with us, it was our story where nobody knew if we were able to do anything,' said Mendoza, who led the Mets to the NLCS after a 24-35 start. 'It's a pretty cool feeling. It's a privilege, it's an honor, when you have the ability to represent and do something special the way they did.' Pitino said he's looking forward to getting back to work with the Red Storm, who lost Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. to the transfer portal but added former Providence star Bryce Hopkins. He acknowledged St. John's needs to improve offensively in order to become a national title contender. The Red Storm finished second in the nation in defensive efficiency but 68th in offensive efficiency, per Each of the teams that made the Final Four — champion Florida along with Houston, Duke and Auburn — finished in the top 10 in offensive efficiency. 'We need shooting as much as anything,' Pitino said of the Red Storm, who shot 44.5% from the field and ranked among the nation's bottom 20 teams in 3-point shooting at 30.1%. 'It's the offensive teams that really go far in the tournament. You have to have a great offense. And we were not a great offensive basketball team this season.' ___ AP MLB: recommended
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Zuby Ejiofor listens to Pitino, delivers solid first pitch at Mets game
NEW YORK (AP) — The basketball season is over, but Zuby Ejiofor is still heeding Rick Pitino's advice. Ejiofor, the 6-foot-9 St. John's forward who earned first-team all-Big East honors while helping the Red Storm to its first conference title in 25 years, threw out the first pitch at Citi Field Wednesday prior to the series finale between the New York Mets and Miami Marlins. 'He gave me a little advice,' Ejiofor said of Pitino, who threw out the first pitch before a Mets-Yankees game in 2023. 'He said not to bounce it.' Despite saying he had 'zero' experience in baseball, Ejiofor's pitch from the top of the mound landed right in the glove of John Franco, the St. John's alum and former Mets closer who stood at the plate in front of eight of Ejiofor's teammates. 'If Zuby takes care of business and doesn't hurt our superstar alumnus here, it'll be a good start for the Mets, the hottest team in baseball,' Pitino said before New York pursued its seventh straight win. Pitino — wearing a personalized No. 41 jersey, the same number retired in Tom Seaver's honor — appeared with Ejiofor, Franco and Red Storm center Vince Iwuchukwu at a pregame press conference. Franco was presented with a St. John's No. 45 uniform — the same number he wore in his final six-plus seasons with the Mets. The 72-year-old Pitino, who was born in New York City and raised on Long Island, recalled going to Yankees games as a child with his sisters but also said he cheered for the Mets. 'I used to go watch Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, reserves like Hector Lopes, Johnny Blanchard, (Tony) Kubek, (Clint) Richardson,' Pitino said. 'But I was also a Mets fan of (Jerry) Koosman, Seaver and going back to Tommy Agee. I'm one of the few people that rooted for both teams. Anything with 'NY' on it, I'm 100% behind it.' Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he enjoyed watching as St. John's became the biggest winter sports story in New York by going 31-5 and winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2000. The Red Storm's season ended with a 75-66 second-round loss to Arkansas. 'When you get a team that is doing something special like they did — we saw it last year with us, it was our story where nobody knew if we were able to do anything,' said Mendoza, who led the Mets to the NLCS after a 24-35 start. 'It's a pretty cool feeling. It's a privilege, it's an honor, when you have the ability to represent and do something special the way they did.' Pitino said he's looking forward to getting back to work with the Red Storm, who lost Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. to the transfer portal but added former Providence star Bryce Hopkins. He acknowledged St. John's needs to improve offensively in order to become a national title contender. The Red Storm finished second in the nation in defensive efficiency but 68th in offensive efficiency, per Each of the teams that made the Final Four — champion Florida along with Houston, Duke and Auburn — finished in the top 10 in offensive efficiency. 'We need shooting as much as anything,' Pitino said of the Red Storm, who shot 44.5% from the field and ranked among the nation's bottom 20 teams in 3-point shooting at 30.1%. 'It's the offensive teams that really go far in the tournament. You have to have a great offense. And we were not a great offensive basketball team this season.'
Fox Sports
11-03-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
RJ Luis Jr., Rick Pitino lead St. John's domination of AP All-Big East team
Associated Press RJ Luis Jr. is the Associated Press Big East player of the year and Rick Pitino is the unanimous choice for coach of the year after both helped St. John's win its first outright conference title since 1985. UConn freshman Liam McNeeley was selected as Big East newcomer of the year. Luis came back from offseason surgery to his shins and has averaged 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the sixth-ranked Red Storm, who enter this week's Big East Tournament on a six-game winning streak. Pitino has St. John's (27-4) headed for its first NCAA Tournament since 2019 in his second year on the job. Luis received six votes for player of the year from the 13-member voting panel of media members to edge Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner by a single vote. Villanova forward Eric Dixon received the other two votes. 'I've got to thank my teammates and coaches,' Luis said Saturday about the possibility of getting named player of the year. 'They do a great job of putting me in position to be successful, especially Kadary (Richmond). He knows I'm a scorer, so he does a great job of finding me the ball. I think it would be a blessing to receive the award. It would be an honor.' Luis, Kalkbrenner and Dixon all were unanimous first-team all-Big East selections. They're joined on the first team by Creighton guard Steven Ashworth, St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor and Marquette guard Kam Jones. Ashworth and Ejiofor tied for fifth place in the voting. The second team includes Richmond, UConn guard Solo Ball, Xavier forward Zach Freemantle, UConn forward Alex Karaban and Georgetown swingman Micah Peavy. This is the third straight year in which Kalkbrenner has made the first team. Dixon and Richmond both made the second team last year, though Richmond was playing for Seton Hall at the time. First team t-Guard – Steven Ashworth, Creighton, 5th year, 6 feet, 175, Alpine, Utah G – Kam Jones, Marquette, Sr., 6-5, 205, Memphis, Tennessee u-G/F – RJ Luis Jr., St. John's, Jr., 6-7, 215, Miami u-F – Eric Dixon, Villanova, 6th year, 6-8, 265, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania t-F – Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's, Jr., 6-9, 240, Garland, Texas u-C – Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, 5th year, 7-1, 270, Florissant, Missouri Second team G - Solo Ball, UConn, Soph., 6-3, 190, Leesburg, Virginia G – Kadary Richmond, St. John's, 5th year, 6-6, 205, Brooklyn, New York G/F – Micah Peavy, Georgetown, 5th year, 6-8, 220, Cibolo, Texas F - Zach Freemantle, Xavier, 6th year, 6-9, 227, Teaneck, New Jersey F – Alex Karaban, UConn, Jr., 6-8, 225, Southborough, Massachusetts Individual honors u-Coach of the year – Rick Pitino, St. John's Player of the year – RJ Luis Jr., St. John's Newcomer of the year - Liam McNeeley, UConn, Fr., 6-7, 210, Richardson, Texas -'u' denotes unanimous selection -'t' denotes tie Voting panel Joseph Arruda, Hartford (Connecticut) Courant; David Borges, CT Insider; John Fanta, Fox Sports; Kevin McNamara, WPRO, Providence, Rhode Island; Jeffrey Neiburg, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Steve Newhouse, WeAreDePaul, 247Sports; Dave Preston, WTOP, Washington; Roger Rubin, Newsday; Richard Skinner, WKRC, Cincinnati; Tim Van Vooren, Fox6, Milwaukee; Jon Walker, Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald; Chris Widlic, WTTV CBS4, Indianapolis; Adam Zagoria, NJ Advance Media ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP collegebasketball: and recommended
Associated Press
11-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
RJ Luis Jr., Rick Pitino lead St. John's domination of AP All-Big East team
RJ Luis Jr. is the Associated Press Big East player of the year and Rick Pitino is the unanimous choice for coach of the year after both helped St. John's win its first outright conference title since 1985. UConn freshman Liam McNeeley was selected as Big East newcomer of the year. Luis came back from offseason surgery to his shins and has averaged 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the sixth-ranked Red Storm, who enter this week's Big East Tournament on a six-game winning streak. Pitino has St. John's (27-4) headed for its first NCAA Tournament since 2019 in his second year on the job. Luis received six votes for player of the year from the 13-member voting panel of media members to edge Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner by a single vote. Villanova forward Eric Dixon received the other two votes. 'I've got to thank my teammates and coaches,' Luis said Saturday about the possibility of getting named player of the year. 'They do a great job of putting me in position to be successful, especially Kadary (Richmond). He knows I'm a scorer, so he does a great job of finding me the ball. I think it would be a blessing to receive the award. It would be an honor.' Luis, Kalkbrenner and Dixon all were unanimous first-team all-Big East selections. They're joined on the first team by Creighton guard Steven Ashworth, St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor and Marquette guard Kam Jones. Ashworth and Ejiofor tied for fifth place in the voting. The second team includes Richmond, UConn guard Solo Ball, Xavier forward Zach Freemantle, UConn forward Alex Karaban and Georgetown swingman Micah Peavy. This is the third straight year in which Kalkbrenner has made the first team. Dixon and Richmond both made the second team last year, though Richmond was playing for Seton Hall at the time. First team t-Guard – Steven Ashworth, Creighton, 5th year, 6 feet, 175, Alpine, Utah G – Kam Jones, Marquette, Sr., 6-5, 205, Memphis, Tennessee u-G/F – RJ Luis Jr., St. John's, Jr., 6-7, 215, Miami u-F – Eric Dixon, Villanova, 6th year, 6-8, 265, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania t-F – Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's, Jr., 6-9, 240, Garland, Texas u-C – Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, 5th year, 7-1, 270, Florissant, Missouri Second team G - Solo Ball, UConn, Soph., 6-3, 190, Leesburg, Virginia G – Kadary Richmond, St. John's, 5th year, 6-6, 205, Brooklyn, New York G/F – Micah Peavy, Georgetown, 5th year, 6-8, 220, Cibolo, Texas F - Zach Freemantle, Xavier, 6th year, 6-9, 227, Teaneck, New Jersey F – Alex Karaban, UConn, Jr., 6-8, 225, Southborough, Massachusetts Individual honors u-Coach of the year – Rick Pitino, St. John's Player of the year – RJ Luis Jr., St. John's Newcomer of the year - Liam McNeeley, UConn, Fr., 6-7, 210, Richardson, Texas -'u' denotes unanimous selection -'t' denotes tie Voting panel ___
