St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino yelling during a game.
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino yells at his players during the first half of a game on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.

Theo Edema, the true freshman big man coming off a strong performance in the exhibition finale against Texas, surprisingly didn’t play in Monday night’s season-opening 78-63 win over Monmouth.

But head coach Rick Pitino said he just wanted to get a look at some of his other forwards.

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“I know what Theo can do. Like [Zsombor Maronka] had a great week of practice,” Pitino said. “Tounde [Yessoufou] didn’t start because he missed two days of practice and didn’t practice well yesterday. We’re trying to see who can play and who can’t play after these five games. I’m just experimenting right now.”

The five games Pitino is referring to are the contests before the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas Thanksgiving week. St. John’s will be a significant favorite in those games ahead of the trip out West.

Yessoufou had a minor calf injury that kept him out of practice. Maronka had two blocks, two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.

St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino yells at his players during the first half of a game on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino yells at his players during the first half of a game on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post

The 6-foot-11 Edema was impressive in the exhibition win over Texas, notching four points and seven rebounds.

Before the game, St. John’s hung three new banners: a Big East regular-season and postseason titles, and Sweet 16 one. A year ago, Pitino addressed the crowd. Monday, he left that to athletic director Ed Kull.

“I wanted Ed Kull to get a chance. He never gets a chance to speak,” Pitino said. “He’s a great athletic director. I wanted to give him his moment. I wanted to take it in and not speak.”

After missing the entire preseason due to a wrist injury, Mercer transfer guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. logged three minutes and was scoreless.

Source: Yahoo Sports