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St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins, a transfer from Providence who started his college career at Kentucky, takes a shot at some special March Madness Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Give me one reason why Rick Pitino is a Hall of Fame coach.
A: He doesn’t take losing lightly. There’s a fear of losing between me and all my teammates. The standard that he has for us is the highest of the high, and I feel like when we you lose, you’re like fearing to come in the next day because you don’t know what to expect, you don’t know how he’s gonna react. It’s just like not a fun environment to be around when you’re losing. And I feel like the standard that he holds everybody to on a day-to-day basis, the workouts that we do, the practices that we have even in season are like summer practices that you would expect — like we’re playing 5-on-5 in practice going at it, we’re not taking any days off really. And I feel like it’s just the constant grind makes a Hall of Fame coach.
Q: During your recruitment, did Coach Pitino take you to a restaurant?
A: We went to Avra, I think.
Q: What did you have?
A: I think I had sea bass. It was really good. I’m not a big fish guy, but I think he ordered it for the table. It was really good.
Q: Who else was with you?
A: My mom, my dad, Zuby [Ejiofor] was there, Coach Mas [Steve Masiello] and Coach P.
Q: What did Coach P tell you after the workout?
A: He said I did good. I hadn’t played in like two years, so I was a little bit out of shape at the time, and he just said that it’s gonna come. He was very happy with the workout, and I was happy with the workout, too.
Q: How much noise can this team make?
A: I think we can make a lot of noise. We’re gonna have to be locked in to every opponent.
Q: What do you like best about this team?
A: Probably all the depth that we have on our team. … I would just say everybody is unselfish, I feel like we all look for each other, everybody plays together, which makes it easy to just play with guys like that.
Q: You were a freshman on the Kentucky bench in March 2022 when 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s shocked the world in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
A: It was crazy. The whole arena was all Kentucky fans and I remember Saint Peter’s had one little section of all their fans. That was my first March Madness and I’m sitting on the bench, like this is a Cinderella team, they might actually upset us. I definitely wanted to be out there to help my teammates, but obviously I wasn’t in the rotation that much. … I knew my time was gonna come as I got older.
Q: Why did you choose Providence?
A: I had a great relationship with Coach [Ed] Cooley, they were actually gonna be my second school I was gonna go to if I didn’t choose Kentucky.
Q: What was it like playing against Kentucky in the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
A: It was a weird feeling going against my old teammates, seeing all their faces, seeing all the training staff. It was a crazy feeling, it was surreal. That was my last time I actually been to the NCAA Tournament, so being where we are right now, I never actually won an NCAA game, so winning one will mean a lot, but making a deep run is ultimately what we want to do, for sure.
Q: Whatever comes to mind: Zuby.
A: He’s a competitor, first of all. He’s a freak of nature, him being like 6-[foot]-8, 6-9, being as physical as he is. Seeing him when I was at Providence to where he is now, him expanding his offensive game, making 3s, being more comfortable with the ball in his hand, what he does on the defensive end — having somebody like that with that motor on your team really drives us as a team, for sure.
Q: Dillon Mitchell.
A: He’s very athletic, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. How hard he plays, he’s like a point forward, he’s a very unselfish player, he gets all the guys involved.
Q: Dylan Darling.
A: (Smile) Church bells. He’s not afraid of the moment, he plays with a chip on his shoulder, he’s very energetic, he’s a pest on defense. You need somebody like that to run a team. Settles the guys down when the game gets tight. That’s when he’s at his most free, for sure.
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Q: Oziyah Sellers.
A: He’s one of the best shooters I ever played with in my college career. He’s quiet on the court, but he makes all the right plays. His back cuts, the 3-point shots that he makes. Just having somebody like him that can spread the floor is very helpful.
Q: Ian Jackson.
A: Very athletic. Very quick-twitch. Has a great handle on him. A tough shotmaker. He’s fun to be around in the locker room, he’s very energetic and outgoing.
Q: Joson Sanon.
A: He’s athletic, he can shoot the 3 and he’s a tough shotmaker, for sure.
Q: Sadiku Ayo.
A: He’s a glue guy for the team, I feel like. He keeps everybody together when things aren’t going well. Say after a tough loss maybe, he’s a guy texting the group chat, making sure everybody’s OK and bringing the guys together, and just trying to keep the locker room happy.
Q: Ruben Prey.
A: A very skilled big, knows how to use his body, has great touch around the rim. I feel like he’s gonna be a great player; he’s only a sophomore, which is crazy. He has all the intangibles to be a great player, he can stretch the floor with his shooting ability. He can move like a guard, actually, to me.
Q: Lefteris Liotopoulos.
A: He’s a sniper. He’s a tough shotmaker as well. As soon as he touches it, you can’t even get there to contest.
Q: Coach Pitino says he intends to hand the reins one day to Coach Masiello.
A: [Masiello has] been around Coach P, so he had the ultimate blueprint to follow. He knows what a winning culture looks like. He just keeps on pushing us even when it may be uncomfortable. He keeps his foot on the gas and he doesn’t let us fall below our standard.
Q: Do you think Coach P will break out the white suit again?
A: I don’t know, that’s tough (smile). I would like to see it again. He looked sharp, for sure.
Q: How do you think my colleague Zach Braziller would look in a white suit?
A: (Laugh) I think he can pull it off. He can pull it off.
Q: What was the biggest adversity you had to overcome?
A: Definitely was my ACL injury [in January 2024]. It was the toughest thing I ever had to go through, just being away from the game for that long. I didn’t know what to do. I had to have my parents help me go to the bathroom, take a shower, stuff like that, ’cause I couldn’t, like, move on my own. There was a lot of dark moments where I was like I didn’t know if I was gonna be the player that I ever was before that. Just getting through that to the point that I’m at right now, it’s just very rewarding to be back out there, I’m extremely blessed.
Q: What bothered you the most about the hate you received leaving Providence for St. John’s?
A: Probably them saying that I quit on my teammates. Dealing with an ACL injury is nothing that you can just sweep under the rug, you have to take it very seriously. … And I actually came back earlier than my due date was expected.
Q: Then came the bone bruise on the same knee in your third game back.
A: I still played through that, but after the game my knee swelled up again and I had to go to the MRI the next day. And I remember sitting in one of my coaches’ offices and I was literally in there crying, like I don’t know if I messed my knee up again, I could barely walk, I was limping and stuff. Just the psychological and the mental aspect of that, going through that again and feeling the same pain I felt when I did first go through my ACL, it was tough to see that. It kind of kept me out for another three weeks, and by that time it was already more than halfway though the season, so by that point, I was like, “Do I want to come back for my last however many games you had left, or do I want to make a business decision and get myself a whole nother year to fully become healthy and get my name back out there?”
Q: Describe your mentality on the court.
A: I would say I’m very aggressive. But I also like to play through my teammates. I don’t like to force a lot of shots, I like to see how the defense is playing me, I like getting my teammates involved. But I would say my mentality, for sure, is to be aggressive at all times.
Q: You have a chip on your shoulder.
A: Growing up in Chicago, we always have a chip on our shoulder. There’s a lot of great players that play out there, and from a young age I always had a chip on my shoulder just competing.
Q: Somebody described you as a jack-of-all-trades matchup nightmare.
A: I feel like I can be a mismatch nightmare, or a mismatch problem because I feel like if a smaller guy’s on me, I feel like I can take him to the post, or if a bigger guy’s on me, I feel like I have enough speed and perimeter skills to drive by him and create a shot.
Q: Is there an NBA player who reminds you of you?
A: Carmelo Anthony was the one that I think I modeled my game after. His midrange game, the physicality that he plays with, his mentality on the court, his shot-creating ability, I feel like he’s a good comparison, for sure.
Q: When did your NBA dream begin?
A: I might have been in middle school. I wrote it down … I said, “NBA player.”
Q: Favorite player now?
A: Jayson Tatum. I like his shotmaking ability, how he gets his teammates involved and stuff like that, but he’s just a fun player to watch.
Q: What drives you?
A: I would say my parents, just all the hours that they spent when I was younger taking me to AAU tournaments on the road, not always being able to fly so we had to take a lot of road trips and stuff like that, and them sacrificing their time, their weekends after long weeks in their jobs doing that, sacrificing that for me to live out my lifelong dream, which is to give me the best opportunity to play college basketball and stuff like that. They definitely motivate me the most.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: LeBron [James], Juice WRLD, Kevin Hart.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: “Like Mike” and “Hardball.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Kevin Hart.
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Q: Favorite actress?
A: Taraji P. Henson.
Q: Favorite entertainers?
A: Kevin Hart and Kai Cenat.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Steak with asparagus.
Q: Have you been back to Avra?
A: We went before the Xavier game here. We watched the Super Bowl there.
Q: Did you have the sea bass again?
A: I think I had a steak this time (smile).
Q: Have you ever been to Vincent’s Clam Bar in Carte Place?
A: Oh yeah, for sure. My parents live right around the corner.
Q: Have you been to San Diego?
A: Never.
Q: St. John’s faces Northern Iowa on Friday night.
A: They’re an older team. They’re very physical. They like to run their sets, they like to shoot a lot of 3s, run off of screens and stuff like that. They’re a slower-paced team, tempo-wise. But they’re a very good team. They have great shooters, they have downhill players. We’re gonna have to be locked in for 40 minutes, we can’t underestimate them at all. … They’re a great team.
Q: Are they similar to any Big East team?
A: Coach kind of compared them to Villanova, seeing that they’re a little bit more physical than Villanova.
Q: If you win, you could meet Kansas, with Darryn Peterson.
A: He’s a great player. He’s obviously, they say, projected top one or two in the NBA draft. We’re gonna go into the game with respect but we can’t fall into the outside noise of, this is an NBA prospect or whatever the case may be. We have to lock in like any other opponent that we’re gonna be playing.
Q: What are you most proud of about yourself?
A: Overcoming the adversity of going through my injury, and being to where I’m at now.
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Q: Let’s say I’m an NBA GM. Tell me, should I draft you?
A: I would say I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help my teams win. I feel like my playmaking ability and my mismatch problems I can create on the offensive end can help a team out. And I feel like I can switch 1 through 4 on the defensive end … just basically be myself, for sure.
Q: Do you expect to be drafted?
A: I do. I feel like I’m gonna have to make some noise in the March Madness tournament … stay locked in to my team, that’s the biggest thing. And I feel like wining is gonna basically determine that.
Q: A message to St. John’s fans.
A: Thank you for all the support welcoming me as soon as I came in on campus, and all the support that they showed me for my first exhibition game to where we are now, especially going through the incident (brawl) that happened at Providence, them having my back and stuff like that. It just meant a lot for me personally. I know they’ll be watching us, and I just hope that they know that we’re gonna be ready. We’re definitely gonna be making a deep run into March, hopefully, locked in to our opponents and stuff like that.
Q: You’re gonna make them proud?
A: We are gonna make them proud.
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