NEW YORK, NY — In such a historic and ongoing season for College Basketball in New York City, one where the No. 6 ranked St. John’s Red Storm stand 27-4, 18-2 in Big East play before ‘the tournaments of all tournaments’ begin later this week at Madison Square Garden — the Big East Conference tournament — Rick Pitino and his coaching staff are responsible for more than just winning games and lifting the program back to national relevance.
The 72-year-old Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, along with his hard nosed yet truly caring assistant and associate coaches — Steve Masiello, Ricky Johns, Van Macon, Bob Walsh, and Taliek Brown — have instilled core values on their players that not only help on the court, leading to victories, but also, and more importantly, in their individual every day walks of life.
“We love our players, each one of them individually,” said Pitino when asked on how he and his coaching staff have helped this year’s group in becoming better individuals off the court.
“We counsel them on all the pitfalls of life.”
St. John’s won their first outright Big East regular season title in 40 years this season (1985-1985) – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
As we could all understand, sports go beyond the generic box scores, and individual/team performances, especially in this climate of collegiate sports where each student-athlete is still developing into the greatest version of himself/herself all while completing their respective academic studies to further their education.
“They make sure we are actually doing the right thing,” explained junior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo on the Red Storm’s coaching staff, their care for one another, how they have led as examples for the team to follow, and lastly, what they expect out of each individual.
After moving to the Bronx, Sadiku Ibine Ayo became a high school basketball star at Our Saviour Lutheran – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
For Ibine Ayo, of Asabi-Kumasi, Ghana, living in New York for the last seven-eight years, a key-player off the Red Storm bench dating back to last season, and one of three co-captains, this style of coaching comes to him by no surprise since he was under Pitino at Iona University from 2022-2023 as a freshman prior to transferring to St. John’s.
“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.”
The proper way to view collegiate athletics as all sports go beyond the game. College coaches are hired to, yes, handle all team operations such as assisting their players to lead them to success in their respective sport, developing game strategies/tactics, and setting individual/team expectations, among many other tasks.
St. John’s star graduate guard Kadary Richmond recently said, “We know that we are one of the best teams out here and we’re going to keep working, being humble and being who we are.” Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
But at the same time, provide advice and learning lessons that correlates to both: the game and life overall.
“(Coach Pitino) helps with all the advice he gives us,” said Kadary Richmond, a star graduate guard from Brooklyn, New York, who was recently selected to the Big East regular season All-Second Team.
“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.”
Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Kadary Richmond signing autographs for fans on Monday night at Applebees (more information below) – Image Credit: Robert Rizzo/Latino Sports
From Richmond’s perspective, a transfer of Seton Hall, he’s experienced and noticed the individual/team progress from the beginning of the offseason in Queens to now, stating, “Just seeing the growth in myself and in the guys in the locker room from where we started in July is impressive.”
Johnnies Giving Back
This past Monday evening was another impressive showing by the Red Storm as the majority of the team took part in an autograph signing/meet and greet with St. John’s fans at an Applebees located on 61-48 188th Street in Fresh Meadows, Queens, NY.
From 6:30 PM ET-8:00 PM ET, fans of all ages were able to meet their favorite Johnnies, making for each attendee going home with a photo, and/or an autograph, along with a life-long memory.
(L) Vince Iwuchukwu, (M) RJ Luis Jr., and (R) Zuby Ejiofor took time to greet each fan throughout the autograph signing on Monday – Image Credit: Robert Rizzo/Latino Sports
“Thank you for all that you have done this season, not just for St. John’s, but for all of New York City,” one fan said to the trio of Vince Iwuchukwu, RJ Luis Jr., and Zuby Ejiofor, during the event.
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