St. John’s got its NCAA Tournament going in a strong way on Thursday with a decisive 83-53 win over Omaha. While the win naturally had the Red Storm players in a good mood, one reporter sensed something was off with one of the players and decided to inquire.
Zuby Ejiofor finished the game with 10 points, making him one of four St. John’s players in double-digits. The junior forward’s stat line also included seven rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. But during the postgame press conference, one reporter observed that Ejiofor wasn’t in his normally jubilant post-win mood.
“Zuby, usually after a win, like when we’re talking to you, you seem very upbeat,” the reporter said. “You do not seem upbeat tonight.”
Coach Rick Pitino couldn’t help but interrupt with a question. “Are you a psychologist now?”
“Well, I mean, on the side,” the reporter joked back before finishing his question.
“You don’t seem as upbeat as usual,” he said. “Is there a reason for that?”
Pitino then offered a possible response.
“Tell him your girlfriend broke up,” Pitino joked. “Give him a psychological thing.”
Zuby Ejiofor was asked about not seeming “upbeat” after the St. John’s win.
Rick Pitino: “Tell him your girlfriend broke up” 😂 pic.twitter.com/xKUOyftQ7f
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 21, 2025
“No girl issues,” a laughing Ejiofor said. “You’re always gonna see me with a smile on my face. Especially when we get a big-time win like this. It’s the road to a national championship. We got one down. We got five to go. I don’t know. You don’t see the smile on my face. But I’m pretty much happy for what we accomplished today. But we still got more work to be done.”
Reporters are often tasked with asking difficult questions. But even with that caveat, this particular question came way out of left field. Though if there was any concern about Ejiofor’s mood, he — along with everyone else in the room — couldn’t help but laugh and smile.
Pitino got one more one-liner in.
“Anybody have any Prozac out there to give to Zuby?”
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