If it were up to athletic director Ed Kull, St. John’s would play 14 games at the Garden next season.
That, however, remains uncertain, as the Big East school works with MSG executives.
As it stands, St. John’s will play at least 11 games there, but that number could rise depending on availability of the building. They played nine games there a year ago.
Three league games, against Seton Hall, Butler and DePaul, could be played at either the Garden or Carnesecca Arena.
The other seven will be held at MSG.
Nonleague contests against Alabama, Ole Miss and Iona will be at the Garden, along with an exhibition game against Michigan.
“The word is trying,” Kull said on Wednesday, at a launch event for St. John’s joining Adidas as an apparel partner. “DePaul, Seton Hall, Butler, depending what days of the week they fall, I want them all at MSG. But the Knicks and Rangers still get first pick on dates. I think MSG wants to help us. If they have the open dates, they want to give it to us.
“Why I’m aggressive saying this, I’m confident in our fan base. I’m confident in what we’re doing. It’s the appetite for this team. I don’t want to cap it at the 5,200 [that] Carnesecca Arena [holds].”
Currently, St. John’s has sold 8,000 season tickets, up from last year’s total of 5,600.
Kull is hoping to get up to 10,000.
Coach Rick Pitino has named one of his racehorses “Zuby” after star forward and co-captain Zuby Ejiofor.
Unfortunately, the two-year-old thoroughbred is “slow,” according to Pitino. It has yet to be entered in an official race.
“I thank him for naming a horse after me. It means a lot, obviously. I don’t think there’s a lot of guys that he’s named horses after,” Ejiofor said. “That’s something new for me. He obviously trusts me. I’m going into my third year with coach Pitino. He put a lot of trust in me.”
Ejiofor has yet to meet the horse, which is training up in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
At Louisville, Pitino named horses after star players like Luke Hancock, Russ Smith, Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng.
