Five Johnnies Earn All-MET Honors

4/22/2026 8:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dylan Darling, Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell and Oziyah Sellers honored by Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association on Wednesday

NEW YORK- The entire St. John's men's basketball starting five was honored by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) on Wednesday. Zuby Ejiofor (First Team), Bryce Hopkins (First Team), Dillon Mitchell (Second Team), Dylan Darling (Third Team) and Oziyah Sellers (Honorable Mention) were recognized as the top players in Greater New York City Metropolitan Area.

The players will be honored at the 93^rd Annual Haggerty Awards Dinner on Thursday night at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel and Conference Center in Tarrytown, N.Y. Five Johnnies earn All-MET honors for the second year in a row.

The five players, who all started of the last nine games of the season for the Red Storm led St. John's to another memorable campaign in 2025-26. The Johnnies became the first program in the storied basketball history of the BIG EAST to win back-to-back outright regular season and conference tournament titles. Rick Pitino's group made noise in March, as the program advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 and reached the 30-win mark for just the fourth time in its 119-year history.

Ejiofor earns All-MET First Team recognition for the second consecutive season, after stringing together a banner campaign during his senior season. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. The Garland, Texas native was the only player in high-major basketball to lead his team and rank top-10 in the conference in all four of the aforementioned statistical categories. Ejiofor compiled 31 double-digit scoring outings in 37 appearances, 11 20-plus point performances and posted eight double-doubles during his final season in Queens.

The senior captain racked up a plethora of awards for his on-court performance this season. He was named the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year, an AP and USBWA Honorable Mention All-American, a College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American and the ECAC Player of the Year. At the conference level, Ejiofor became the first player in the league's history to be selected as BIG EAST Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and win the Dave Gavitt Trophy as the BIG EAST Tournament's Most Outstanding Player in the same season.

Hopkins earns All-MET First Team recognition after making a major impact for the Red Storm in his final collegiate season. The graduate student averaged 13.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, starting in all 37 contests. The All-BIG EAST Second Team selection reached double-figures 26 times, including each of the last seven games of the season. In the NCAA Tournament Second Round, the wing set a new St. John's NCAA Tournament record, splashing six 3-pointers in the 67-65 victory over fourth-seeded Kansas on March 22 in San Diego. The Oak Park, Ill., native was named a CSC Third Team Academic All-American, an NABC All-District First Team honoree and was tabbed to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. During his five-year collegiate career, Hopkins accumulated 1,353 points and 692 rebounds over 115 contests.

Mitchell, a swiss-army knife forward, earned All-MET Second Team recognition following the 2025-26 campaign. The high-flying big man averaged 8.3 points on 55.9% shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 28.1 minutes per game this past year. The Cincinnati transfer ranked 27^th in NCAA Division I with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.0 and finished his career in 11^th on the active leaders list in rebounding with 903 total boards. The Tampa native was named to the All-BIG EAST Third Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Tournament Team. Additionally, he was recognized as the MBWA Player of the Week on Jan. 27 after averaging 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in wins over Seton Hall and Xavier.

After coming up in the clutch time and time again, Darling earned third team recognition on Wednesday. The point guard improved immensely as the season went on, starting each of the last nine games and provided late-game heroics during the historic campaign. The Spokane, Wash., native nailed the game-winning lay-up at the buzzer to send the Red Storm to the Sweet 16 against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. On the year, Darling averaged 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.6 rebounds and a team-high 1.4 steals per game. The Idaho State transfer was named an NABC North Atlantic District Second Team honoree and tabbed MBWA Player of the Week on Feb. 17 after a season-high 23-point performance at Providence on Valentine's Day.

Sellers, a sharpshooting guard, was named All-MET Honorable Mention following his lone season in the Big Apple. The senior delivered 10.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game across 36 starts. The knockdown shooter racked up 19 double-digit scoring outings and nailed a team-high 53 triples at a 35.7% clip from beyond-the-arc. The Hayward, Calif., product boasted a 7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio during BIG EAST play and concludes his career with an 86.9% mark from the charity stripe.

The MBWA will unveil the winner of the 2026 Haggerty Award, one of the longest running and prestigious awards in college basketball on Thursday morning.

2025-26 All-MET Awards
FIRST TEAM
Budd Clark, Seton Hall  •  5-10, Jr., G, Philadelphia, PA
Cruz Davis, Hofstra  •  6-3, Jr., G, Plano, TX
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's  •  6-9, Sr., F, Garland, TX
Tariq Francis, Rutgers  •  6-1, Jr., G, Pittsburgh, PA
Bryce Hopkins, St. John's  •  6-7, Gr., G/F, Oak Park, IL
Erik Pratt, Stony Brook  •  6-5, Gr., G, Lake Worth, FL

SECOND TEAM
Preston Edmead, Hofstra  •  6-1, Fr., G, Deer Park, NY
Jamal Fuller, LIU  •  6-5, Gr., G/F, Toronto, Canada
Anquan Hill, Sacred Heart  •  6-9, Sr., F, Philadelphia, PA
Dillon Mitchell, St. John's  •  6-8, Sr., F, Tampa, FL
Kenny Noland, Columbia  •  6-2, Sr., G, Apex, NC
Dejour Reaves, Fordham  •  6-0, Gr., G, Syracuse, NY

THIRD TEAM
CJ Anthony, Iona  •  6-0, Gr., G, Columbus, OH
Brandon Benjamin, Fairfield  •  6-8, Fr., F, Newark, NJ
Brent Bland, Saint Peter's  •  6-3, Sr., G, Wheatley Heights, NY
Dylan Darling, St. John's  •  6-1, Jr., G, Spokane, WA
Nick Jones, Wagner  •  6-2, Jr., G, Edgewood, MD
Jason Rivera-Torres, Monmouth  •  6-7, Jr., G, Bronx,NY
Braden Sparks, Fairfield  •  6-0, Sr., G, Villa Rica, GA

HONORABLE MENTION
David Bolden, Ari Fulton and Sebastian Robinson, NJIT; Ryan Curry, Army-West Point; Malachi Davis, LIU; Oziyah Sellers, St. John's; Andrej Shoshkikj, Stony Brook; AJ Staton-McCray. Seton Hall; Jaden Winston, Manhattan

Lou Carnesecca Co-Coach of the Year: Speedy Claxton, Hofstra
Lou Carnesecca Co-Coach of the Year: Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall
Rookie of the Year: Preston Edmead, Hofstra