Zuby Ejiofor listens to St. John's coach Rick Pitino and delivers solid 1st pitch at Mets game
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The basketball season is over, but St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor is still heeding coach Rick Pitino's advice.
The 6-foot-9 Ejiofor, who earned first-team All-Big East honors last month after helping the Johnnies to their first outright regular-season conference title in 40 years, threw out the first pitch at Citi Field on Wednesday before 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 threw a pitch from the top of the mound that 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 lost 5-0, snapping its six-game winning streak.
Pitino — wearing a personalized No. 41 jersey, the same number retired by the Mets in Tom Seaver's honor — appeared with Ejiofor, Franco and Red Storm center Vince Iwuchukwu at a pregame news 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, raised in New York City and 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 Héctor López, Johnny Blanchard, (Tony) Kubek, (Bobby) Richardson,' Pitino said. 'But I was also a Mets fan of (Jerry) Koosman, Seaver and going back to Tommie 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 matched a school record for wins and took home their first Big East Tournament title in 25 years before their season ended with a 75-66 loss to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAAs.
'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 2024 National League Championship Series 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 have added former Providence star Bryce Hopkins and ex-Arizona State guard Joson Sanon via the transfer portal. Red Storm star RJ Luis Jr., the Big East Player of the Year and a second-team All-American, decided to declare for the NBA draft while retaining his eligibility and entering the portal.
Pitino 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 KenPom.com. Each of the teams that made the Final Four — NCAA 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.'
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This story has been corrected with the proper spelling of Tommie Agee's first name and Héctor López's last name. A previous version was corrected to show that Pitino was referring to Bobby Richardson, not Clint Richardson.
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