March Madness: Zuby Ejiofor has a shot to show Bill Self what he's got
Zuby Ejiofor of the St. John's Red Storm against the Northern Iowa Panthers inin the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 20, 2026 in San Diego, Credit: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey
SAN DIEGO — Everyone could see this coming from the moment the first branch of the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed on Selection Sunday.
There was St. John’s, seeded fifth in the East Regional.
And standing in the way of the Red Storm’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1999?
Fourth-seeded Kansas.
College basketball fanatics across the country savored the idea of two coaching titans, the Red Storm’s Rick Pitino and the Jayhawks’ Bill Self, going head-to-head.
Zuby Ejiofor with the Kansas Jayhawks in 2022. Credit: Getty Images/Ed Zurga
And those who have followed the Red Storm saw so much more. If things worked out, star center Zuby Ejiofor — lauded as the transformational player in St. John’s return to greatness — would be going against the program he left after one season to come to New York.
Ejiofor has become a sensational player under Pitino. He has led the Red Storm to consecutive seasons winning the outright Big East regular-season and tournament titles for the first time. He was named the Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
He also has reached a sort of pinnacle in New York with single-name recognition. Say “Zuby,” and every sports fan knows precisely whom you’re talking about.
Norm Roberts, the New Yorker who was the St. John’s coach for six seasons through 2010, was the top assistant on Self’s staff in 2021-22 when the Jayhawks won the national championship and was the lead recruiter getting Ejiofor out of Garland, Texas, to come to Kansas.
“We’d never have recruited him if we didn’t think he would be a great player, but this season I’ve seen him doing certain things — the scoring, being able to shoot the three, defending guards on the perimeter — that maybe I didn’t expect then,” Roberts told Newsday in a phone interview Saturday. “That maybe one of the things people don’t understand about Zuby, the way that he works. He wants to become something and he puts in the work to become that.”
Roberts said it was envisioned that Ejiofor would become a frontline player for a Jayhawks team that needed to fill big spots after losing many off the national title team. The 6-9 Ejiofor was brought in along with 6-11 Ernest Udeh, but returner KJ Adams kept both from becoming starters with a season that earned him Big 12 Most Improved Player.
When the season was over, Kansas landed coveted transfer and double-double machine Hunter Dickinson from Michigan, and the chances of Ejiofor’s getting more playing time looked bleak.
We know that Ejiofor didn’t feel valued at Kansas and decided to transfer. He ended up canceling a visit to Providence when coach Kim English told him and his family that he wouldn’t be on campus for it and instead visited St. John’s. And that was the start.
Said Roberts: “People wonder ‘how did they ever let Zuby go?’ but we did get the number one big guy in the whole transfer portal, a very good player. That was the situation. We wanted to keep him and he wanted to play. But he made a great decision.
“St John’s needed new blood, new energy in there, and Rick brought in new blood, new energy,” he added. “Zuby got a hell of a coach, great guy developing [players], and Zuby was a guy that was going to get better over time. You started to notice at the end of his first season in New York.”
Roberts said that even after Ejiofor departed, he always watched him from afar. In getting to know him and his family, “I didn’t just see someone who was going to be a talented basketball player but someone who was going to be a first-class guy. He is a first-class guy.”
Robert is from Queens, knows the contours of New York and actually was a little concerned about Ejiofor coming north because “he’s a country kid.’’
“The thing I worried about him going to New York was how he would adapt,” Roberts said. “He’s a country kid, a quiet kid. The trains, the media, the attention: Those are all things he hadn’t really been involved in. But he adapted easily.”
The reason Ejiofor adapted and the reason Roberts liked him so much: “All he cares about is playing basketball, winning and getting better.”
When asked about the Red Storm making the Sweet 16 for the first time in 27 years, Ejiofor said, “We have a chance to make something special out of this season.”
And playing against Kansas? “It’s just another game for me, just another game,” he said. “I’m still going to just go out there and compete. It doesn’t matter who we are up against, my mentality never changes. I’m just wanting to go out there, have fun and compete.”
Said Pitino, “I don’t think Zuby cares about playing Kansas. I think he’s concerned about this is a chance to get to the Sweet 16.”
Bryce Hopkins transferred to St. John’s this season from Providence and knows very well how fraught things can be in a game against your former program. There can be a pressure to perform, but in Ejiofor, he sees a guy who is immune to that.
“It’s not making the narrative about [him] and the former team,” Hopkins said. “I feel like he’s going to be fine. He’s been in tough matchups all year and just excelled in them. Knowing him, I expect no different.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
