Head Coach Rick Pitino has found his team’s leaders less than a month before tip-off.

Per the Hall of Famer’s very active X account, a post from Oct. 10 states that the team collectively chose their captains. 

“The team consensus was to name Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor as team captains for our upcoming season,” the post said. 

Richmond, Pitino’s coveted offseason acquisition from Seton Hall, and Ejiofor, a valuable bench piece from last season poised to take his game to the next level, are the perfect candidates to lead on both ends of the court.

During his senior season at Seton Hall, Richmond led the Pirates in scoring and rebounding with 15.7 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. These numbers earned him an All-Big East First Team nod.

After staying in-conference and making the jump to St. John’s, the newest Johnnie has impressed the legendary coach in practice. In another post, Pitino claimed that Richmond “simply annihilated everyone” in their most recent practice and “worked his a– off.” 

Pitino has already shown a great amount of trust in Richmond, seemingly putting control of the offense in very capable hands.

Ejiofor, the former Kansas recruit, earned his captaincy with great performances in big games last season. Most notably, Ejiofor tallied his season high in points and blocks with 13 points and five blocks against his fellow captain’s former team Seton Hall. 

The 6-foot-9 forward provided phenomenal post-defense all season, recording the third most blocks on the team in limited playing time. Ejiofor averaged 4.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season. 

With the departure of Joel Soriano, Ejiofor will step into the former captain’s role and lock down the frontcourt.

The Johnnies’ opening exhibition game against Rutgers on Oct. 17 will be the first chance for the new captains to prove themselves as the right choice for these positions.