Former KU basketball forward Zuby Ejiofor enjoying stellar season at St. John’s
In need of several talented basketball players in his first recruiting class at St. John’s, Rick Pitino became interested in former Kansas forward Zuby Ejiofor immediately after the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Garland, Texas native entered the transfer portal on May 4, 2023.
Hall of Fame coach Pitino’s decision to pursue Ejiofor had nothing to do with the modest numbers put up by Ejiofor during the 2022-23 season, his freshman campaign at KU.
“If Zuby played for ‘School X’ with his statistics and his analytics, I wouldn’t have recruited him,” Pitino told the New York Post after Ejiofor, now a junior starter for Pitino’s second Red Storm team, scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in an 88-71 victory over Kansas State on Dec. 7 in Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York.
“But because he played for Bill Self, one of the premier coaches in our game, I knew he’d be fundamentally sound and I knew he’d know how to work hard. That’s one of the keys to evaluating … who they play for. That was a big factor in why I recruited him, because he played for Bill Self, because if you looked at his statistics, you wouldn’t recruit him,” Pitino added.
Zuby Ejiofor’s consistent improvement
Ejiofor, who averaged 1.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 5.1 minutes a game in 25 games his freshman year at KU, averaged 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 11.2 minutes per contest in 33 games at St. John’s in 2023-24.
It’s this season, his junior season, that has been the breakout campaign for Ejiofor, who announced plans to leave KU the day after the Jayhawks landed former Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson in the transfer portal.
Ejiofor followed his performance against K-State with 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-77 victory over Bryant on Dec. 11 in Carnesecca Arena.
He had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-98 double-overtime loss to Baylor, 22 points and eight rebounds in a 66-63 loss to Georgia and eight points and nine rebounds in an 80-55 win over Virginia.
In perhaps his finest moment to date, he grabbed a rebound and sank a game-winning shot in the lane, barely beating the buzzer in a 72-70 road victory over Providence on Dec. 20.
“It felt amazing,” Ejiofor told the New York Post after St. John’s overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Providence. “I’ve never made a buzzer-beater and I’ve always been on the wrong side of a game-winning shot.
“My philosophy is, and coach Pitino says, every shot is essentially my rebound,” added Ejiofor, who converted St. John’s first buzzer-beater in 12 seasons. “I have pride in getting my team a second chance and that’s exactly what I did. Find a way to get an offensive rebound, put it on the rim and win the game.”
He’s close to averaging a double-double
For the year, Ejiofor has averaged 14.6 points (on 51.8% shooting), 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game for St. John’s which is off to a 10-2 start while playing a difficult schedule. He leads the country in offensive rebounds at 4.6 per contest.
“Zuby’s a monster,” Pitino told the New York Post.
Ejiofor was a fan favorite well before the buzzer beater vs. Providence. St. John’s fans immediately forgave the big man for missing two pivotal free throws at the end of the Baylor game at the Baha Mar Hoops Championship on Nov. 21 in the Bahamas.
Ejiofor missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds to play. According to Pitino, Ejiofor was iced at the line by the officials, who went to the monitor to check for a possible flagrant foul on Ejiofor. There was no flagrant foul. He missed the shots, setting the stage for a game winning 3-pointer by BU’s Jeremy Roach at the buzzer.
The next night, the St. John’s fans supported him, chanting “Zuby, Zuby” before and during the consolation game victory over Virginia.
“Obviously, it was a surprise to me, to my family. I felt good, and I really wanted to thank the fans of St. John’s for making me feel good and making me feel warm inside,” Ejiofor told the New York Post after the win over the Cavaliers.
“There aren’t a lot of (fans) that are going to do that. Obviously, that was really emotional for me. For them to chant my name and make me feel good before tip-off, I couldn’t play anywhere else,” Ejiofor added.
Rick Pitino appreciates that support
Pitino, like Self a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, was touched by the fans’ treatment of Ejiofor.
“Sometimes when you’re only at a place for one year, you search for things you love about a place and tonight I found out what I love about St. John’s since being here,” second-year St. John’s coach Pitino told the Post. “To chant ‘Zuby, Zuby’ the whole game, that doesn’t happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and thanked them for making Zuby feel good.”
Pitino was irate at the delay in the game to check the monitor for a possible intentional foul on Ejiofor.
“Icing my free-throw shooter there at the end was totally unethical. You can’t do something like that,” Pitino told the Post. “(The official) said the coach (BU’s Scott Drew) said we elbowed (his player), which we did not do. Clear as day. It’s an unethical move. I don’t like it, but that’s not the reason we lost.”
KU coach Bill Self has noticed Ejiofor’s stellar play so far in 2024-25.
“Zuby is doing great. He has really exploded this year. He’s got to be averaging close to 15 (points) a game,” Self told The Star in a recent interview. “He’s done so well. We are happy for Zuby. I wish we could have kept him here. When we got Hunter, that kind of eliminated that. He’s been terrific.”
Self returned the compliment Pitino gave him.
“I know Rick. I don’t know him so well we’d wish each other a happy birthday or anything. He’s one heck of a coach,” Self said.
Of Ejiofor, the New York Post’s Zach Braziller wrote this week: “The affable big man has been St. John’s best player. He’s an offensive rebounding machine. He’s the backbone of their defense and a developing force on the offensive end.”
St. John’s will next meet Delaware on Saturday in Queens, New York.
This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Former KU basketball forward Zuby Ejiofor enjoying stellar season at St. John’s."
