Rick Pitino wanted to set the record straight: St. John’s isn’t the product of a high Name, Image & Likeness payroll.
“First of all, I think there’s a lot of misrepresentation about NIL,” the Hall of Fame coach said after the top-seeded Johnnies blasted No. 2 Creighton 82-66 to win their first Big East Tournament title in 25 years. “NIL didn’t get us this team because Zuby [Ejiofor] and RJ [Luis Jr.] are very low-paid players. That’s nonsense about NIL.”
There have been multiple stories written lately about St. John’s NIL and the important role of billionaire booster Mike Repole.
St. John’s, The Post recently reported, has an NIL payroll around $4 million, which is believed to be No. 1 in the Big East.
It has three players who make in the mid-six figures and above, although nobody on the roster makes seven figures.
St. John’s brought in highly regarded transfers Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith in the offseason.
But Pitino is right. Two of their best players, Ejiofor and Luis, went from role players to stars this season, a major aspect of the team’s success.
Ejiofor set a St. John’s Big East Tournament record with 33 points in Friday’s semifinal win over No. 5 Marquette and Luis was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring 27 of his 29 points after halftime.
He was also the first Johnnie to be the Big East Player of the Year in 39 years.
“Somebody asked me about Zuby and RJ. You don’t know what you are getting,” Pitino said of the two juniors. “Zuby didn’t even play at Kansas. RJ was a good freshman [at UMass], solid, but you didn’t know what you were getting. So here are two stars, very underpaid. I’m sure they’ll be at [general manager] Matt [Abdelmassih’s] window as soon as the season ends, but they’re not going anywhere.
“So you build a team by making sure you understand the whole puzzle of what goes into it, and people just mischaracterize the NIL and [how] St. John’s has been built. St. John’s didn’t get built by the NIL. St. John’s got built with the character of the players, and certainly we are excited to have these young men.”
Asked about being “low-paid,” Ejiofor smiled and said: “I appreciate him for that, but, man, I’m the type of person that doesn’t really care about that NIL stuff. All I care about is winning and going there and playing for Johnnies Nation and playing for my teammates. These are the moments that I play for. I play for championships and making history.”
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