St. John's basketball captain embracing new role with great expectations

Unlike last season when he named Joel Soriano as the team's captain at his introductory press conference, Rick Pitino let the St. John's basketball players vote who would be their captains this season and it was a fairly easy choice.

Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond were the picks among the players, and they would have been the choices of the coaching staff too.

However, while Richmond was pretty much a consensus selection, Ejiofor was unanimous.

"Zuby is my guy so it was pretty cool to see him named captain," junior forward RJ Luis said at the team's media day on Tuesday.

"Zuby plays hard all the time so it's one of those like why wouldn't he be [named captain]."

It continues the upward trajectory for the Texas native, who rarely saw the floor during his freshman season at Kansas, playing 5.1 minutes per game, before developing into a quality backup contributor for the Red Storm at the end of his sophomore year.

Pitino knew from the minute Zuby Ejiofor arrived in Queens that his development would be a process after talking with Kansas head coach Bill Self.

"You're getting an unbelievable young man, but he's extremely limited," Pitino recalled of a conversation he had with Self.

"He can't score past 12 feet. He's mechanical, not a really good passer, and he's always in foul trouble."

Now, just over a year later he's the starting center for the Johnnies, unanimous team captain, and one of the biggest potential breakout stars in the Big East.

"He's improved so much in one year," Pitino continued.

But for Ejiofor, he knows that there will be an adjustment period to his new role and he will not be alone in that battle.

"It felt really good," he said of when he got the news he was named as a co-captain of St. John's.

"Being a co-captain with someone like Kadary Richmond, it feels good. It's a new role for me. So me, my family included, are really excited for this new role that's going to be a part of my life now."

Ejiofor knows there will be challenges along the way but trusts that what he witnessed a season ago between Daniss Jenkins and Soriano will help guide him in the process.

"Daniss Jenkins, more than anybody, set a good example for what true leadership looks like. He came in every single day, every single game, every single practice, he put in the work and he goes 100-percent in everything he does," Ejiofor said.

He's hoping to emulate the same work ethic that made Jenkins shine.

"I might not do everything right or correctly, but the effort is always there -- on the defensive end, on the offensive end, the effort is always there."