Rick Pitino might change St. John's basketball starters after captain's slow start

The St. John's basketball starting lineup could be changing dramatically after one week of games.

Rick Pitino mentioned the possibility of starting Southern California transfer Vince Iwuchukwu over captain Zuby Ejiofor on Wednesday against Wagner after Ejiofor's slow start to the season.

"He may be in the starting lineup next game," Pitino said about Iwuchukwu following the 96-73 victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon. He finished the game with six points and six rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

Ejiofor, who shined in an exhibition against Rutgers with 27 points and 13 rebounds, has been quiet to start the season for the Johnnies. He posted just five points and one rebound against Fordham and eight points and two rebounds against Quinnipiac, although he was credited with five blocks.

"Zuby did not have an offensive rebound, which is disturbing to me," Pitino added. "That's two games in a row where he didn't rebound, so we may have to go with Vince."

Pitino had previously mentioned during the preseason that Zuby Ejiofor would be a guaranteed starter for this team, although the Hall of Famer admitted that he doesn't put much stock into his starting lineups.

It's a similar situation to what unfolded last season when Ejiofor pushed returning captain Joel Soriano for minutes and earned his lone start of the season on February 13 against Providence.

"I think Zuby is more of a power forward than he is a center," Pitino continued. "He's a small [6-foot-9] and I think [opponents] are taking the Rutgers film and say look, he's relentless, and they're doing a great job blocking him out."

Rick Pitino said prior to the Quinnipiac game that Ejiofor was "his own worst enemy" against Fordham for how he did not run the floor properly.

"I think Vince is going to be a great player. There's not a doubt in my mind he's going to be great. He runs well, he jumps well, but he hasn't grown up playing a lot of basketball, so he doesn't have a great feel for the game."

"The young man had cardiac arrest and he's come back from that. So, he's going to be terrific someday. We're hoping it's by the middle of the season because he's 7-foot...and we'll get Zuby to play a little bit more power forward and I think he'll even look better."

Pitino said prior to the Quinnipiac matchup that he was going to start Deivon Smith instead of RJ Luis but Smith started for Aaron Scott, who only played three minutes as he battled the flu.