Zuby Ejiofor is becoming a household name in college basketball, and his stock is continuing to rise.
On Saturday night, Ejiofor was named as the Dan Gavitt Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament after leading St. John’s to a 72-52 victory over UConn in the conference tournament championship.
It continued a weeklong coronation for Ejiofor, who was a unanimous First Team All-Big East selection, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Scholar Athlete of the Year as he became the first player in league history to gather those honors in the same season.
Against the Huskies, he went for 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, and seven blocks, which was a record in the Big East Tournament Championship game.
“He's one of the best players in college I've ever coached against,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said after the game.
Ejiofor averaged 19.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 4.0 blocks in the Red Storm’s run at the tournament.
“The point production, the rebounding production, the havoc he causes on defense, the relentlessness that he plays with, and then just him as a leader of that team, just his personality. I mean, the rage that he plays with, the fire that he plays with, I mean, that guy's just a total butt kicker.”
After the St. John’s season ends, Ejiofor will turn his attention to the NBA Draft and hope to become the first Red Storm player to be a first-round pick since Maurice Harkless in 2012. The program hasn’t seen a player picked in the draft since Sir’Dominic Pointer in the second round of the 2015 draft.
Mark Jackson, the former St. Joh’s superstar and ex-head coach of the Golden State Warriors, is very confident about Zuby Ejiofor’s future.
“I don’t think it, I know it,” he told Storm the Paint after the Red Storm’s championship about if Ejiofor could be a first-round pick. “He’s no brainer.”
“To pass him up and try to think too hard, you will make a mistake and regret it down the road,” Jackson added. “He will be in the NBA, and he’ll be in the NBA for a long, long time.”
His head coach, Rick Pitino, knows the importance of Ejiofor to the team’s success and how that will help him going forward.
“He doesn't need a boost in confidence,” he said. “He thinks he's the best player in the country and he shows it every single night.”
Zuby Ejiofor has already proved himself in the Big East and how he will look to make his mark around the country in the NCAA Tournament next week, trying to lead the Red Storm into the second weekend this season.
“I don't have any idea why that guy is not mocking in as a first-round player in the NBA Draft,” Hurley continued on Saturday night.
“ I mean, he's a switchable defender, he can make threes, he can guard 1 through 5. I mean, the guy's like a Al Horford, almost the way Al Horford plays in the NBA, not when he was at Florida.”