Zuby Ejiofor Named 2024-25 BIG EAST Most Improved Player

QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John's co-captain Zuby Ejiofor has been named the 2024-25 BIG EAST Most Improved Player after leading the No. 6/6 St. John's men's basketball team to the program's first outright regular season championship in 40 years. A native of Garland, Texas, Ejiofor more than tripled his scoring average and doubled his rebounding average from a year ago to help the Red Storm tie a program record with 27 regular season victories.

Ejiofor becomes the second St. John's player in the last three years to capture the award after Joel Soriano was tabbed BIG EAST Most Improved Player in 2022-23. Since the inception of the award in 1997, Ejiofor is the fifth Red Storm player to win the honor joining Soriano, Julian Champagnie (2021), Sir'Dominic Pointer (2015) and Dwight Hardy (2011).

An All-BIG EAST First Team selection, Ejiofor took a sizeable jump in his second year under Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Pitino. After averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in a reserve role last season, the big man increased his production to 14.1 points and 8.2 boards per game as a junior.

On Sunday, the 6-foot-9 forward joined teammate RJ Luis Jr. on the conference's first team, marking the first time St. John's placed two players on the All-BIG EAST First Team since Mark Jackson and Walter Berry in 1986.

Ejiofor leads NCAA Division I in offensive rebounding logging 4.3 boards per game on the glass. He ranks third in BIG EAST with 8.2 rebounds per contest and held the nation's longest active streak earlier this season grabbing seven rebounds or more for 18 straight games from Nov. 17, 2024 to Feb. 1, 2025. The big man has recorded 10 double-digit rebounding efforts and ranks second in the BIG EAST with nine double-doubles. Additionally, the team captain ranks seventh in the conference and leads the team with 1.5 blocks per game.

Offensively, Ejiofor ranks second on the team averaging 14.1 points per game and is shooting a team-high 57.3 percent from the field. The Kansas transfer has scored in double-digits in 22 of his last 23 appearances and scored a career-high 28 points in a victory over Kansas State on Dec. 7.

Ejiofor was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll four consecutive times from Dec. 9, 2024 to Jan. 6, 2025. During non-conference play, the big man averaged 14.5 points on 58.7 percent shooting and 2.3 blocks per game.

St. John's will enter the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will face the winner of No. 8 Providence and No. 9 Butler in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 12 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

St. John's University Athletics

Zuby Ejiofor Named 2024-25 BIG EAST Most Improved Player

Players Mentioned

Zuby Ejiofor

RJ Luis Jr.

Joel Soriano

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