St. John’s welcomes back former captain Sadiku Ibine Ayo in Sunday’s game versus Iona

Sunday’s game for St. John’s will be much more emotional than usual non-conference matchups. The Red Storm will welcome back former two-time captain Sadiku Ibine Ayo as he returns to Madison Square Garden with the Iona Gaels.

Before this season, Ibine Ayo had known only one head coach in college basketball: Rick Pitino. He began his career playing for the Hall of Famer at Iona, then followed him to St. John’s when he was hired to lead the program in 2023. Now he’s back at the school where his college career began. It will be without Pitino this time.

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“He’s like a son to me. My children really joked around, saying, ‘How could you let one of your children get away?” Pitino said on Wednesday, “And that’s the way they looked at him, like a brother. And my grandkids call him Uncle Sadiku.”

After injuries cut his sophomore year short, Ibine Ayo served as a team captain for both of the Red Storm’s Big East championship squads the last two seasons. While his on-court contributions were minor, he was vital in establishing the Red Storm’s winning identity. Ibine Ayo effectively relayed Pitino’s coaching philosophy to his teammates and provided an example in practice with his work ethic and physicality.

“Sadiku is invaluable in the locker room, invaluable in practice,” Pitino stated. “He just makes sure everybody does it the right way. He’s going to make sure that everybody understands what the coaches are all about and what the culture is all about.”

Unlike many transfer portal moves, there was clear and honest communication between Ibine Ayo and Pitino after the forward left the program. Pitino said Ibine Ayo took less money to play with Iona, and he believed that was the right decision for him.

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“I was totally in favor of it. He needs to play major minutes,” Pitino told the media.

The Johnnies head coach also knew, like himself, that Ibine Ayo was a New Yorker at heart, and he was going to stay close to home when choosing his next stop. After Ibine Ayo decided…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/st-john-welcomes-back-former-052307366.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-07 05:23:00

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