Zuby Ejiofor wasn’t born to be a star on the court but his rise with the St. John’s basketball team came because of how hard he works each day.
Ejiofor arrived in Queens as an unknown after a year at Kansas in which he didn’t see the court very often.
He showed flashes of being a serviceable player last season for the Johnnies in a backup role to Joel Soriano, but a lot was put on his plate entering his junior season to become a key player for the Johnnies and he has delivered in a way very few thought was possible.
Named as the Most Improved Player in the Big East, a First Team All-Big East selection, and an All-Big East Tournament nod, Ejiofor has blossomed into a superstar under Rick Pitino and is ready for an even bigger moment in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s been crazy,” he said after scoring a St. John’s conference tournament record 33 points in the semifinal victory over Marquette.
“It’s been a crazy year. Last year didn’t go as planned. We want to be in these moments.”
Ejiofor has seized nearly every moment this season, including two buzzer beaters that lifted St. John’s to key road wins but it all happened because of his hard work when no one was watching.
“First thing I noticed is he never complained about the drills,” Rick Pitino recalled about his initial player development session with Ejiofor during his recruiting visit to St. John’s.
“He went through it, then he shot the ball really well. I said to his dad, ‘I got myself a hell of a player here.’”
He only attacked the individual player drills harder after his sophomore season of averaging 11.3 minutes and 4.3 points per game which led to a junior season in which he was named as the team's captain and can barely come off the court with 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per contest.
“Individually I knew I had a bigger role this year…All the player development sessions and the amount of time that I put in on the court, off the court to be able to do things that I did tonight,” he continued after the Marquette showing.
He followed it up with 20 points in the Big East Championship, helping the Johnnies to its first tournament title since 2000.
“Every coach wants to have a player like him,” Pitino added. “Selfless, just cares about the team…I’m coaching 50 years and there are very few Zubys that come along that just think about the team.”
His motor that makes him such a beast on the court is the driving force behind his season.
Kadary Richmond, a first year St. John’s player after transferring from Seton Hall during the offseason, noted his first encounter with Ejiofor was after a hard foul the Red Storm center committed against Richmond during the second half of a blowout loss against the Pirates last season.
Richmond was turned off by the foul with the game already decided but realized once he got to Queens that there was no bad intentions behind the play.
“That’s just him being Zuby and playing hard. From day one I knew he was good energy, a great guy, a great basketball player, going to go hard and do anything to get a win,” he explained.
Ejiofor’s presence even helped St. John’s land Aaron Scott during the offseason with the two having the connection of being from the state of Texas and playing for the same AAU origination.
“His improvement has been crazy,” Scott said. “We need him. He’s the man in the middle.”
St. John’s will be relying upon Zuby Ejiofor a lot in the NCAA Tournament and if the Johnnies defeat No. 15 seed Omaha on Thursday night it could set up a highly anticipated meeting against his former school, Kansas, in the Round of 32 if the Jayhawks beat No. 10 seed Arkansas.