It was the night before Rick Pitino’s introductory press conference, and he met Joel Soriano for dinner.
By the end of the meal, the standout center had decided to stick with St. John’s rather than enter the transfer portal, convinced it was in his best interests to play for the Hall of Fame coach.
Pitino did most of the talking, but Soriano wanted to make one thing clear to his new coach.
“I told him that I need somebody that’s going to have a foot on my neck at all times,” Soriano said Tuesday. “The stuff he says, that’s what I signed up for.”
Pitino has held him to that.
Nothing has been given to the Johnnies’ big man.
During St. John’s media day, Pitino didn’t name Soriano a starter, saying the only spots locked up for now are at point guard with Iona transfer Daniss Jenkins and at power forward with Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum.
Zuby Ejiofor, a transfer from Kansas, is battling Soriano at center and has drawn praise from Pitino for his non-stop motor.
“Whether it’s here, whether it’s professionally, you’re always going to have somebody trying to battle for your spot,” said the 6-foot-11 Soriano, who was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the Johnnies last year, averaging 15.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. “It motivates me, but at the same time, I know who I am. I know what I gotta do.”
Tuesday provided a peek into Pitino’s motivational methods.
On the one hand, he didn’t say Soriano would start and joked about his past eating habits, but on the other, he praised the Yonkers native’s potential, saying he has the highest ceiling of any player on the roster.
“Joel was a disappointment to me, and these last 10 days it’s been very exciting because now he’s in great shape and he’s playing terrific,” Pitino said. “He was getting beat out by Zuby, and now he’s taking the reins. He’s never made excuses, and I like that.”
The coach added: “He’s never been in great shape in his life, he’s in great shape right now. So that means he can outrun people. He runs great, he’s long. He’s now jumping better. I haven’t seen him block a lot of shots, but he rebounds well. He’s improving his passing and he’s making outside shots, so I think he has the most upside [of anyone on the team].”
Pitino has been on Soriano to lose weight.
Initially, the goal was to get down to 10 percent body fat.
Now that Soriano is at 9.8, there’s a new goal: 8 percent.
When he hits that, Soriano joked, the number will probably go even lower.
That’s fine with him, as is his undefined role.
Soriano didn’t go into this blindfolded.
He spoke to former Pitino players Edgar Sosa and Francisco Garcia about what to expect from his new coach and what his final year of college would be like.
Soriano meant it when he told Pitino he wanted somebody to hold him accountable.
“I didn’t prove anything to him. At the same time I had a good year last year, but he wasn’t here for that,” the fifth-year senior said. “He doesn’t know anything about it. He’s just seen film. He told me that, every day in practice I’m going to have to bring it, earn my stripes. I’m good with it.”