It’s what Zuby Ejiofor dreamed about since he started playing basketball – a chance to play in the NBA – and it’s all happening right before his eyes.
The St. John’s superstar got a chance to workout in front of all 30 NBA teams in Chicago this week at the NBA Draft Combine and showed why he is worthy of being a first-round pick, something the Red Storm program has not had since Sir’Dominic Pointer in 2015.
“it’s been a great experience,” he said at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago on Wednesday. “Having this opportunity is something I dreamed of for a long time and it’s literally right in front of my face.”
Ejiofor has spent most of his time in Las Vegas since the Red Storm season ended training for the NBA, getting up hundreds and thousands of shots per day in hopes to showcase his shooting abilities for franchises.
He made 17-of-30 shots in off the dribble shooting on Monday night as well as 12-of-25 in the 3-point star drill, 16-of-28 in a side-mid-side drill, and 13-of-25 in spot-up shooting.
“It’s something I could have shown a little bit more in college and then I had the opportunity to come out here and prove, not only to myself, but to everybody around [the combine] that I could do it,” he added.
“I was pretty proud of it.”
Ejiofor said that the player development sessions that Rick Pitino puts the St. John’s players through on a near daily basis made him feel more “comfortable” when he got on the court at Wintrust Arena although he’s still getting accustomed to the NBA 3-point line.
“He literally changed the trajectory of my career,” the Big East Player of the Year said about Pitino after he joined the Johnnies in the Hall of Famer’s first transfer portal class following accepting the job.
He then developed into one of the best college basketball players in the country while working with Rick Pitino for the next three years.
Pitino has kept in contact with Ejiofor during his draft process, telling him to enjoy the moment and everything that comes with it. Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins are also in Chicago for the NBA Draft Combine; the first time the program has sent three players to the event in its history.
Zuby Ejiofor said he had six meetings with NBA teams on Wednesday, which included the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets, and is scheduled to meet with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
He is not participating in the 5-on-5 scrimmages at the NBA Combine as his agent gathered the information that he’s projected to be selected in the 25-35 range in June’s draft.
In the midst of his workouts with teams in the next month, Ejiofor is returning to New York to walk in St. John’s commencement ceremony on May 17 and is expecting to be back in the city for the draft in Brooklyn on June 23.
Not only is Zuby Ejiofor hoping to be the first St. John’s player drafted since 2015, but he could also be the program’s first first-round pick since 2012.
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