Why former St. John's co-captain Sadiku Ibine Ayo says old coach Rick Pitino 'might shed a tear' Sunday
Former St. John's player Sadiku Ibine Ayo with the Red Storm last season, left, and Ibine Ayo with Iona this season. Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn; Iona University
St. John‘s fans may be in for a bittersweet sight Sunday at the Garden.
They surely will cheer when Sadiku Ibine Ayo is introduced before Iona faces the 13th-ranked Red Storm at noon. The applause will show the fans' appreciation for the significant role the 6-7 forward played in helping to resurrect the St. John’s program. However, the unsung co-captain in the Red Storm’s back-to-back Big East championship seasons now will wear the Gaels’ maroon and gold.
There is a full-circle feel to Ibine Ayo playing for Iona.
Rick Pitino recruited him to the Gaels for the 2022-23 season, which ended with Metro Atlantic champion Iona leading Connecticut at halftime of an NCAA Tournament first-round game before losing to the eventual national champion.
When Pitino moved to St. John’s after the season to start the rebuild, he recruited Ibine Ayo to join him.
The two formed a special relationship. Ibine Ayo is close enough with the Hall of Famer’s family that Pitino’s grandchildren call him “Uncle ’Diku.” He was the Pitino whisperer for every player recruited to the Red Storm, able to translate the coach's demands so players understood what was expected.
And now he's back at Iona.
“I'm excited to see the fans because they cheered for me for three years,” Ibine Ayo said Tuesday after the Gaels practiced in New Rochelle. “I hope they are excited.”
Of the reunion with Pitino, he added, “I think it will be emotional. He might shed a tear because he kind of loves me.”
Ibine Ayo was a consequential part of the Red Storm's chemistry despite being a 7.6-minutes-per-game role player. After he and Pitino had what he described as “hard conversations” about his 2026-27 playing time and future, Ibine Ayo committed to Iona in April. He didn’t want to leave but concluded, “We went back-to-back and kind of did what I needed to do.”
Pitino and Ibine Ayo hope he can spend some part of his post-college life making a living playing basketball, and they agreed that he needs a chance to play a big role this season and not play seven minutes per game.
Their connection served St. John’s well on the court. When Pitino got harsh with players during games or practices, his trusted captain could bring the coach back with a poke or a hand on the knee. “Then he asks for the board and draws something up,” Ibine Ayo recalled.
Ibine Ayo said that on a number of occasions while he was at St. John's, he interpreted Pitino’s words or actions for a teammate.
“You’ve just got to understand the type of person he is,” he said. “I don't think the guys understand . . . He is putting his all into you. Ruben [Prey] and [Lefteris Liotopoulos], they've been around him for a while. He yells at Lefty all the time, but they [didn’t] actually get to understand why is he doing that. When you get to understand why he's doing that, then you kind of realize that it's not coming from a bad place.”
Ibine Ayo explained that his ability to restore calm — particularly when Pitino would be “furious” during a timeout — came from their extensive time together.
When they first paired at Iona, they didn’t have that.
“He was way worse,” Ibine Ayo said, recalling an episode after a 17-point loss at Siena. “He told us straight away, 'You don't deserve me to be the coach, and I'm not coaching you.' He’d come with film and just sit down and not say anything . . . We went and won [15] games in a row. That's just him."
Even after deciding Ibine Ayo would benefit from being a major player for the Gaels, there was room for second-guessing. Pitino brings prospective transfers under serious consideration to campus and puts them through a rigorous workout to evaluate them. To test their toughness, he had them go head-to-head with Ibine Ayo.
“That was the scary part of the portal, because Sadiku was beating out some of those guys,” Iona coach Dan Gariot said. “He was out-toughing a lot of the guys visiting. It got a little scary at the end because it was [Pitino] wondering, ‘Am I crazy?’ ”
“Sadiku is invaluable in the locker room, invaluable in practice,” Pitino said. “He just makes sure everybody does it the right way in the locker room. Behind closed doors, he's going to make sure that everybody understands what the coaches are all about and what the culture is all about . . . Iona is very lucky to have him.”
Ibine Ayo feels good about being back with the Gaels, and the work habits he learned at St. John’s have been contagious. Gariot noted that “he helps shape” the culture.
Pitino expects the Garden crowd to give Ibine Ayo a warm reception. “We're looking forward to seeing him," he said. "Then we're going to do everything possible to stop his [butt]."
Might he shed that tear for his former captain?
“I won’t cry,” Pitino said. “I’ll cry if we lose.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
