Rick Pitino claims star player will force him to retire originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The No. 22 St. John’s upset Big East rival the No. 3 UConn in Madison Square Garden matchup Friday night. According to FOX Sports, Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino said something unexpected after the win.
“You know you’re going to make me retire?” Rick Pitino said to his star big man Zuby Ejiofor. He finished the day with an impressive stat line with 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals.
The comment was comedically revealing of Pitino's relationship. It wasn’t negative at all, it was a supportive and likely meant to quantify how important Ejiofor is to the St. John’s team. As well as a humorous way of saying Pitino is not keen on a coaching world that no longer includes Ejiofor.
The quality win over a top 5 ranked opponent moves the Red Storm into 18-5 overall on the season and 11-1 in the Big East. The Pitino win moves him into a tie with Roy Williams for third place on the all-time wins list by a head coach at 903 wins.
Ejiofor has been a staple for St. John’s since transferring from Kansas. In 2024-25 Ejiofor earned All-Big East honors. In that season, Ejiofor led St. Johns to a Big East conference title and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
He has added to that resume in 2025-26 averaging almost 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, two blocks and over a steal per game. Currently, St. Johns is a mere half-game back of UConn following the upset win in the Big East standings.
With eight games yet to be played, St. John’s holds a modest lead over the No. 3 team Villanova. If St. John’s is able to take care of the unranked teams left on the schedule, it will set up an other important matchup on February 25th.
In the third to last game of the St. John’s schedule, they will travel to Storrs Connecticut to face UConn again. With serious Big East and NCAA Tournament implications.
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