PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Kansas’ loss has been St. John’s gain.
When the Jayhawks brought in All-American Hunter Dickinson two years ago through the transfer portal, they lost Zuby Ejiofor.
Nobody knew at the time what a difference-maker he would become.
“We did not want Zuby to leave,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Wednesday at Amica Mutual Pavilion. “It was going to be kind of a crowded house, and maybe the immediate opportunities were not much, at least the way it looked at that moment, so we supported whatever he wanted to do. He was terrific in the time that he was with us. It was just too short.”
Ejiofor didn’t play much in his lone season at Kansas, averaging just 5.2 minutes in 25 games.
A four-star, top-50 recruit entering college, he went into the portal and wound up in Queens, picking St. John’s over Villanova, TCU and San Diego State.
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In his first season with Rick Pitino, the 6-foot-9 Ejiofor was Joel Soriano’s backup and progressed as the year went on.
This winter, he exploded.
He was named one of three captains before the season and broke out for the second-seeded Johnnies, earning the Big East Most Improved Player award along with a spot on the league’s first team.
“I’m entirely grateful for my time at Kansas,” said the well-liked Ejiofor, who is averaging 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. “So now I find myself in a better situation for myself, and over these past few years, I couldn’t have imagined going to a different program where I can develop under Coach Pitino and all the standards that he put out for me. So I’m grateful that I spent the last two years here at St. John’s.”
Pitino has called Ejiofor the team’s MVP, the Red Storm’s rock and one of the keys to their top-rated defense in terms of efficiency.
He set a St. John’s Big East Tournament record with 33 points in a semifinal win over Marquette and will look to lead them to the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years on Thursday against No. 15 Omaha.
His former teammates aren’t surprised.
The relentless motor that has been an Ejiofor staple since his arrival was part of his game back then, too.
“He always worked hard every day at practice when he was here at KU. It’s showing now what he’s doing,” Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said. “He learned from a lot of centers we had, vets we had. Hopefully we can match up against them. We got to take care of business, they got to take care of business. That would be pretty exciting.”
