St. John’s University men’s basketball forward Zuby Ejiofor has been named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Preseason Top 20 Watch List. The announcement comes as Ejiofor continues to receive recognition following a standout junior season in which he helped lead the Red Storm to both BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
Ejiofor, a senior from Garland, Texas, became only the third St. John’s player in more than three decades to earn the title of BIG EAST Player of the Year last season. In addition to this honor, he was recently selected for the NABC Division I Player of the Watch List, joining 19 other players nationwide.
“Ejiofor becomes the third St. John’s player to be tabbed to a Naismith Starting 5 Preseason Watch List. The captain is joined by Bryce Hopkins and Ian Jackson, who were both named to their respective positional award watch lists earlier this week,” according to the team.
He is also notable for being the first St. John’s athlete since Joel Soriano in 2023 to appear on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List; Soriano later became a finalist for that award during Rick Pitino’s first year as head coach.
During his junior year under Pitino, Ejiofor averaged 14.7 points per game with a shooting percentage of 57.7%, along with 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest while guiding St. John’s to an overall record of 31-5. He led his league in double-doubles and finished second in both rebounds per game and total rebounds (291) within conference play.
Last season saw him reach double figures in scoring on 29 occasions and exceed twenty points seven times. His performance peaked during the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal against Marquette at Madison Square Garden, where he set a new school tournament record by scoring a career-high 33 points.
Following these achievements, Ejiofor received several postseason honors: he was named BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, earned All-BIG EAST First Team status, made All-MET First Team, and was chosen for College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team.
The Red Storm are scheduled to begin their upcoming campaign ranked No. 5/6 nationally with an opening matchup against Quinnipiac on Monday at 6:30 p.m., broadcast on FS1; they will then face Alabama at Madison Square Garden later that week.
