Bobcats Ready for Season Opener at #5 St. John's

Jaden Zimmerman vs. Fairfield (2025 in Hamden, CT)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

11/2/2025 4:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Quinnipiac (0-0) at #5 St. John's (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 | 6:30 PM
Queens, N.Y. | Carnesecca Arena

Quinnipiac Game Notes: Click Here
Bobcats in the Media (2025-26)

Watch: FS1
Live Stats: Click Here
In-Game Updates: @QU_MBB on X/Instagram

QUEENS, NY – Quinnipiac men's basketball is set to open up its highly anticipated 2025-26 campaign on Monday night, as the Bobcats will make the trip to Carnesecca Arena to take on #5 St. John's. The season opener is set to be televised nationally on FS1, with opening tip scheduled for 6:30 PM.

PRESEASON MAAC FAVORITES

For the second straight season, Quinnipiac has been voted as the favorite in the MAAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bobcats earned 158 total points and eight first place votes in the poll.
This marks the second time in program history that the Bobcats have been selected as the preseason favorites, after also being picked first in the preseason poll last year.

BACK-TO-BACK MAAC REGULAR SEASON TITLES

The Bobcats are on the heels of a record-breaking two-year stretch, where Quinnipiac posted two consecutive 20-win years overall during Tom Pecora's first two seasons at the helm. The Bobcats went 24-10 in 2023-24, then posted a 20-13 mark last season.
Quinnipiac captured the league's regular season title during both seasons, posting a 15-5 MAAC record in both 2023-24 & 2024-25.
QU advanced to the semifinal round of the MAAC Tournament in both years.

MONROE RETURNS TO HAMDEN

Reigning MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe returns to Hamden for his senior season. He is the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year for the second season in a row, and was a unanimous selection for the Preseason All-MAAC First Team.
Monroe paced Quinnipiac during 2024-25, averaging 18.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game – all of which led the team.
The Newburgh, New York-native impressed in conference play, averaging a double-double (19.8 PPG & 10.5 RPG) over 19 MAAC contests.
He finished 2024-25 as the MAAC leader in rebounds per game (9.1), offensive rebounds per game (6.9), and double-doubles (14).
Monroe recorded 20+ points in 17 different games last year. He also grabbed 10+ rebounds in eight consecutive contests to wrap up the regular season.

ZIMMERMAN ALSO BACK FOR THE BOBCATS

Fellow Preseason All-MAAC honoree Jaden Zimmerman returns to Quinnipiac for his sophomore season. The guard was chosen to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
Zimmerman posted 11.0 PPG & 2.1 RPG over 33 contests during his first season with the Bobcats, earning a spot on the 2024-25 MAAC All-Rookie Team.
Zimmerman registered 20 different games with 10+ points.

YEAR 2 for GRANT RANDALL

Grant Randall is also back for the Bobcats for his sophomore campaign. He scored 62 points and grabbed 62 rebounds during his first season at QU.
Randall scored a season-high seven points in the regular-season finale at Fairfield (3/8).

He also scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds at Saint Louis (11/25).

THE 2025-26 BOBCATS

The Bobcats return eight players in total: Amarri Monroe, Grant Randall, Ronell Giles Jr., Samson Reilly, Spence Wewe, Braylan Ritvo, Jaden Zimmerman and Akintola Akinniyi.
Quinnipiac has seven total newcomers – a pair of transfers (Asim Jones & Nate Guerengomba), and five other true first-year players (Jayden Reid, Tai Turnage, Christopher Skenderi, Keith Mcknight & Sam Nosakhare.
The Bobcats have 10 players that are 6-foot-5 or taller.

HEAD COACH TOM PECORA

Tom Pecora will enter his third season as Head Coach at Quinnipiac University in 2025-26.
Pecora – a veteran with 16 years of experience as a head coach at the Division I level – has won back-to-back MAAC Coach of the Year awards after leading Quinnipiac to two consecutive regular season titles in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Bobcats went 15-5 in league play during Pecora's first season at the helm in 2023-24, then followed up with another 15-5 MAAC record in 2024-25. Pecora has more wins (30) over his first two seasons than any men's basketball head coach in the history of the MAAC.
Pecora just completed his eighth season in total with the Bobcats (previously served as Associate HC from 2017-2023). He was announced as Quinnipiac's next Head Coach on Thursday, April 13, 2023.
He has guided his teams to 305-279 record as a collegiate Head Coach (stops at SUNY Farmingdale, Hofstra, Fordham, and Quinnipiac).
Pecora reached 300 total wins on Feb. 14, 2025 after helping lead the Bobcats to a win over Sacred Heart on ESPNU. Quinnipiac has won 130 total games during Pecora's time on staff (since 2017), tallying double-digit win totals in seven of eight seasons.
Prior to his time at Quinnipiac, Pecora served as the head coach at Hofstra for nine years (2001-2010) and at Fordham for five seasons (2010-15). He also served as the associate head coach under Jay Wright for seven seasons before taking the head job at Hofstra, the last two of which resulted in America East Conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths.
As a head coach at Hofstra, Pecora compiled a 155-126 mark in nine seasons, leading the Pride to four postseason appearances (three NIT and one CBI), the most for any New York City team over that nine-year span. In 16 years at Hofstra with Pecora on the staff (nine years as a head coach, seven as an assistant), the Pride averaged 19 wins a season (246-161).
During his time in Hempstead, Hofstra was the winningest program in the Metropolitan New York area. Over his last six years, Hofstra won 121 games, including four 20-win seasons. In 2006 and 2009, he was named Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) and he also received regional Coach of the Year honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY).
Prior to joining the staff at Hofstra, Pecora also had previous experience in running a program, serving as head basketball coach at the State University of New York at Farmingdale from 1989-92. In three seasons at Farmingdale, the Rams posted a 62-24 record, captured the Region 15 championship in 1992 (when they finished 20-9), advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and were ranked as one of the nation's top 20 junior college programs.
He has coached NBA players at his previous two stops as head coach – Speedy Claxton, Norman Richardson, and Charles Jenkins (at Hofstra), and Eric Paschall (at Fordham).

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S

St. John's enters the new campaign ranked No. 5 nationally in the AP Men's College Basketball Preseason Poll.

Last year, the 2024-25 Johnnies' squad went 18-2 in league competition to capture the regular season crown before going on to win their first conference tournament title in 25 years. Rick Pitino, in his second year at the helm in Queens, took home three of the four major national coach of the year awards.
Coming off a sweep of the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 2024-25, the Johnnies have been picked to repeat atop the league standings. The Red Storm garnered seven out of a possible 10 first place votes in the preseason coaches' poll, which was released in conjunction with BIG EAST Media Day at Madison Square Garden. This selection marks the first time since the 1991-92 preseason that St. John's has been picked to finish atop the league. That selection came after the Red Storm advanced to the Elite Eight in 1991 before falling to eventual national champion Duke.
The conference's coaches also selected Zuby Ejiofor, a First Team All-BIG EAST pick and the league's most improved player a season ago, as their BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year.
Ejiofor leads a group of five Johnnies who received preseason all-league recognition from the BIG EAST. It is believed to be the first time in league history that five players from the same program have earned Preseason All-BIG EAST selection in the same season. Bryce Hopkins, a 2023 First Team All-BIG EAST pick at Providence, found a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team. Ian Jackson earned a place on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team while fellow newcomers Joson Sanon and Dillon Mitchell were selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Third Team.
The Bobcats are 0-2 all-time against St. John's.
QU dropped last year's meeting, 96-73, on Nov. 9, 2024 in Queens. Jaden Zimmerman posted 11 points off the bench. He shot 3-of-5 from the floor and knocked down a pair of triples.
Quinnipiac fell at Alumni Hall, 97-60, back on Dec. 29, 2001 during the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

THE NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Quinnipiac's non-conference slate features a trip to St. John's – a consensus preseason Top 5 team – to open the season (Nov. 3), and two games over a three-day span at the end of November at Pitt (Nov. 23) and at Central Florida (Nov. 25).
The Bobcats have five home dates on the non-conference schedule in total.
Following the season-opening trip to Queens, Quinnipiac will return to Hamden for a pair of home contests against in-state foes Central Connecticut (Nov. 6) and Yale (Nov. 11).
The Bobcats will then head to Maine (Nov. 16) to square off with the Black Bears for the second consecutive season, followed by another home contest against City College of New York (Nov. 19).
Next up, QU heads on its road trip to ACC foe Pittsburgh (Nov. 23) and to Big 12 opponent Central Florida (Nov. 25). The Bobcats close out the month of November at home (Nov. 30) vs. Stonehill at M&T Bank Arena.
Quinnipiac's final home game of the non-conference schedule comes against UMass Lowell (Dec. 13).
The Bobcats then head to former MAAC foe Monmouth (Dec. 17) and to Hofstra (Dec. 21) to wrap up the non-MAAC slate.

To stay up to date with all Quinnipiac men's basketball news, follow the program on X/Instagram @QU_MBB or visit www.gobobcats.com/mbb.