St. John’s men’s basketball player Zuby Ejiofor was named the recipient of the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award, according to an announcement by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association on April 23.
The award is one of the oldest and most prestigious in college basketball, given annually to the top player in the metropolitan area since its establishment in 1936. The honor is named after Frank J. Haggerty, a former St. John’s co-captain who died while serving in World War II.
Ejiofor becomes the second consecutive St. John’s athlete to win this distinction after RJ Luis Jr., marking back-to-back wins for the school for the first time since D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer in 2014-15. He is now St. John’s 29th winner of this award, more than any other school; Seton Hall has earned it 15 times.
Ejiofor led St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball—a team that plays home games in Queens, New York and participates in the Big East Conference—to a second straight season with at least 30 wins, securing both BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championships as well as an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly three decades, according to their official website. The Red Storm adopted their nickname for athletics teams and have claimed six Big East Tournament championships along with two National Invitation Tournament victories according to their official website.
Over his senior season, Ejiofor averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game across all starts while ranking among conference leaders across multiple categories including field goal percentage at nearly fifty-four percent.
His achievements also include being named Naismith Starting Five Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year, AP and USBWA Honorable Mention All-American honors, College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American status and ECAC Player of the Year recognition—making him one of only a few players ever to be chosen as BIG EAST Player of the Year, Defensive Player of Year and Scholar-Athlete simultaneously while winning Most Outstanding Player at that tournament within a single season.
Ejiofor will be recognized during Thursday evening’s MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at Sleepy Hollow Hotel & Conference Center.
