Zuby Ejiofor’s senior season is becoming the stuff of St. John’s legend.
He had already led the Johnnies to back-to-back outright Big East regular season titles, but the last three days, his year from an individual standpoint went to another level.
Monday, he was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, and on Wednesday, he will be announced as the conference’s Player of the Year, according to sources, becoming the first Johnnie to receive both honors in the same season.
Chris Mullin never did it.
Mark Jackson never did it.
Walter Berry never did it.
Ron Artest never did it.
Only seven other players have ever won both awards. The last player to do so was Villanova’s Josh Hart in 2017. Ejiofor makes it back-to-back Johnnies to win the Player of the Year. RJ Luis took home the honor a year ago. Before Luis, the previous St. John’s player to win the award was Berry in 1986.
Now, the 6-foot-9 Ejiofor is hoping to lead St. John’s to its second straight Big East Tournament title and first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. He’s put the Red Storm on his back this winter, as the team’s lone returning starter. He leads the team in scoring (16.0), rebounding (7.1), blocked shots (2.0) and assists (3.5), and is second in steals (1.2).
More impressive than those numbers, however, is his leadership. Early in the year, when St. John’s was struggling, Ejiofor called out his new teammates for needing to do more if the Johnnies were going to enjoy the same kind of success as last year.
In the biggest game of the season, the home victory over Connecticut on Feb. 6, he was dominant in tallying 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
“You’re going to make me retire. I can’t live life without you,” Pitino joked to Ejiofor that night.
When UConn earned revenge a few weeks later, and Ejiofor was outplayed by Huskies big man Tarris Reed Jr., he faulted himself for the lopsided loss. Three days later, he led with action, producing the first triple-double of his career in a 32-point win over third-place Villanova. In Friday’s Big East clinching win at Seton Hall, Fox cameras caught Ejiofor imploring his teammates to defend and rebound at the end of a timeout. He sounded like a coach. Afterwards, Pitino noted that Ejiofor was doing that at the end of every stoppage.
“I’ve never had a player talk like that in timeouts,” Pitino said. “I respect that so much. It was all about defense, it was all about locking down certain things.”
Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway will be named the league’s Coach of the Year after leading the Pirates to a fourth-place finish. They were picked last in the preseason. Marquette’s Nigel James Jr. was voted the Freshman of the Year, edging Villanova’s Acaden Lewis and Connecticut’s Braylon Mullins.