Zuby Ejiofor is too modest and humble to put praise on himself or talk about how good of a player he is, but it’s no secret how important he is to the success of the St. John’s basketball team.
Ejiofor’s rise to stardom has been quick, bursting upon the scene a season ago and he’s never looked back. The most impressive aspect of the Big East Preseason Player of the Year is how he always shows up in the big games and that must continue this week at the Players Era Festival.
The 6-foot-9 center went for 27 points and 10 rebounds in the Red Storm’s loss against Alabama, a game in which he shot 9-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
Since, he’s only taken a total of 12 shots, and although St. John’s didn’t need him to be special in order to beat William & Mary and Bucknell, they will need him to shine bright in Las Vegas against Iowa State and Baylor.
“I would probably just describe it as one of those games,” Ejiofor said on Sunday as to why he was limited from a scoring perspective in the last two contests.
“I came in with the right mindset, but things weren’t really flowing the way it usually does for me. So, that’s something that I’m working towards and trying to improve in these next two games…I think I did a terrible job at reading the defense and how they were playing me. I didn’t play up to my standards.”
His coach has absolutely no worries about him and expects the great version of Zuby Ejiofor to show up this week.
“Zuby, I never doubt for a minute.” Rick Pitino said. “Zuby, Bryce, Dillon, they’re all cut from the same cloth. They are professionals, they’ve all been around, they know what the game’s all about.”
“So those three guys are going to bring it tomorrow.”
It’ll be a tough and physical matchup for St. John’s against No. 16 Iowa State, who has not truly been tested yet in the early season but was picked to finish 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll.
Blake Buchanan, a 6-foot-10 transfer center from Virginia, is expected to be matched up with Ejiofor and he’s expecting the Red Storm to come ready to roll.
“There’s a whole lot of talent on this team. It’s not just predicated on stopping Zuby,” he explained. “They got to stop [Dillon Mitchell], they got to stop [Bryce Hopkins], they got to stop Oziyah [Sellers], Dylan [Darling], and the list goes on and on.”
“They’re going to have to stop a lot more guys than Zuby Ejiofor.”