Ruben Prey has the unenviable position of following a St. John’s basketball program legend.
It might not be as daunting of a task being the next shortstop of the New York Yankees after Derek Jeter leaves or the quarterback of the New York Giants following Eli Manning, but being the guy that replaces Zuby Ejiofor is no easy task – on or off the court.
Yet Rick Pitino still has full confidence in Prey despite a slow start that spanned the preseason and the regular season opener.
“He’s going to have a good year. He’s not Zuby, but he’s going to be a highly effective basketball for us,” Pitino said on Wednesday afternoon before St. John’s practice at Madison Square Garden.
“He’s a little down right now and he should not be because he’s practicing great. One game should not get you down.”
Against Monmouth, he had just two points, missing all five shot attempts from the field, with four rebounds, one assist, and a steal.
“He’ll have some great games,” Pitino added. “It’s only one game. Prior to the Monmouth game, he had three of the best practices of his career.”
“You’re not going to judge the Knicks on the first game of the season. You’re not going to judge Ruben on one game. He’s going to be fine…There’s nobody I’m more confident in than Ruben because he brings it every single day in practice.”
The big emphasis with Prey has been on improving his rebounding. In the preseason, he averaged just 1.6 rebounds in three games while posting 6.6 points in those contests.
“I was definitely mad after the game because I do have high standards for myself,” Prey explained of his performance on opening night. “But I wouldn’t’ say my confidence is affected by it.”
Ruben Prey’s statistics have improved in each of his first two seasons at St. John’s with more playing time and that expectation has not changed entering his junior year.
“You don’t get frustrated by one game,” Rick Pitino added. “You get frustrated if after 15 games, you’re batting .130, [then] you’re in a slump.”
Pitino also mentioned that he did not play freshman Theo Edema against Monmouth because he was hoping to get Ruben Prey going, something that didn’t come to fruition.
No. 13 St. John’s (1-0) and Ruben Prey will look to make it back-to-back victories to begin the season on Sunday afternoon (12:00 p.m. ET, Peacock) against Iona (2-0).
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