Zuby Ejiofor picked up the first of what could be multiple major awards over the next two weeks.
The Red Storm’s star center was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year on Monday afternoon. This comes after Ejiofor was unanimously selected to the All-Big East First Team and the All-Big East Defensive Team over the weekend.
Ejiofor becomes the fifth St. John’s player to ever claim the conference’s top defensive player award, joining Posh Alexander in 2021, Justin Simon in 2019, Sir’Dominic Pointer
in 2015, and Mark Jackson in 1987.
Anchoring the paint for the 14th-best adjusted defense in the country according to KenPom, Ejiofor led his team in blocks (2.0) and steals (1.2) per game. The Texas native ranked in the top 25 nationally and third in the conference in total rejections with 61. Earlier this season, Ejiofor recorded eight swats in back-to-back games against Ole Miss and Iona, becoming the first NCAA Division I player to record as many rejections in consecutive games in four seasons. Among Big East players, he also ranked second in defensive win shares (2.1) and fourth in defensive rating (98.2).
Last month, Ejiofor was named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis this April.
Through 31 games played, Ejiofor leads St. John’s with 16.0 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game on 54.6% field goal shooting and 31.7% from three.
Ejiofor and the top-seeded Red Storm (25-6, 18-2 Big East) will begin their Big East Tournament run on Thursday afternoon, when they take on the winner of the first-round matchup between Butler and Providence. Tip-off from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 12 p.m., and the game can be streamed on Peacock.
