Zuby Ejiofor Named AP and USBWA All-American Honorable Mention

Zuby Ejiofor Named AP and USBWA All-American Honorable Mention

3/18/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Senior was recognized by college basketball writers as one of the top players in college basketball

QUEENS, N.Y.- St. John's men's basketball standout Zuby Ejiofor was named a Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-American Honorable Menton.

The veteran was recognized by college basketball writers as one of the top players in NCAA Division I basketball. Ejiofor was one of 21 players to earn All-America or All-America Honorable Mention honors by the USBWA on Wednesday afternoon.

Ejiofor has strung together a banner campaign in 2025-26 becoming the first player in BIG EAST history to win BIG EAST Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Dave Gavitt Trophy for the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player. The forward became the first player to be unanimously selected as BIG EAST Player of the Year since consensus National Player of the Year and the fifth all-time leading scorer Doug McDermott of Creighton in 2013-14.

The Garland, Texas native paces the Red Storm in scoring (16.3 PPG), rebounding (7.1 RPG), assists (3.5 APG) and blocks (2.2 BPG). The big man is the only player in high-major basketball to lead the team and rank top-10 in his respective conference in all four of the aforementioned statistical categories.

During the dominant BIG EAST Tournament run, Ejiofor averaged 19.7 points on 61.5% (24-39) shooting, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game. The team captain led St. John's to become the first team in the storied basketball history of the BIG EAST Conference to captured an outright regular season title and tournament championship in back-to-back years. In a 72-52 championship game triumph over then-No. 6/6 UConn, Ejiofor went for seven blocks, which marked the school's BIG EAST Tournament and league title game record.

Ejiofor cemented his name in the history books on Feb. 28 becoming the fourth known St. John's player to record a triple-double in a 89-57 rout of Villanova at Madison Square Garden, joining Kadary Richmond (2025), Ron Artest (1999) and David Cain (1993). The veteran finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. Additionally, the third-year Johnnie has paved his way into the record books ranking sixth in career field goal percentage (55.6%), sixth in career blocks (159), seventh in single-season free throw attempts (241), second in single-game free throw attempts (23) and twice notched eight blocks, which sits fourth-most in St. John's men's basketball history.

A prolific scorer, Ejiofor has recorded 11 20-plus scoring performances and ranks second in the BIG EAST shooting 55.4% from the field. The former Kansas transfer has reached double-digits in 28 of his 34 appearances.

Throughout his decorated senior campaign, Ejiofor was named a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award finalist, Naismith Player of the Year Late-Season Team honoree, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Late-Season Team member and was recognized by the conference eight times as player of the week or an honor roll recipient.

Ejiofor and fifth-seeded St. John's will open up the 2026 NCAA Tournament East Region First Round on Friday when it meets 12^th-seeded Northern Iowa at 7:10 p.m. ET in San Diego. The action from Viejas Arena will be nationally televised on CBS.