Zuby Ejiofor Wins Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award

4/23/2026 8:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball

St. John’s has back-to-back Haggerty Award winners for the first time since 2014-15

NEW YORK– St. John's men's basketball standout Zuby Ejiofor has been named the winner of the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association announced on Thursday morning.

The Haggerty Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in the nation, is given to  the metropolitan area's top player and was first presented in 1936. The award is named after Frank J. Haggerty, a former co-captain of the St. John's basketball team in the 1930s who later passed away while serving his country in World War II.

Ejiofor becomes the second straight St. John's player to win the Haggerty Award after RJ Luis Jr. claimed the honor in 2025. It marks the first time back-to-back Johnnies have taken home the Haggerty since D'Angelo Harrison and Sir'Dominic Pointer in 2014-15. The big man becomes the 29^th Haggerty winner in St. John's men's basketball history, dating back to Jack "Dutch" Garfinkel in 1941. The senior captain will be recognized at the 93^rd annual MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday evening at Sleepy Hollow Hotel and Conference Center in Tarrytown, N.Y.

St. John's 29 Haggerty Award winners marks the most by a single-school in the award's storied history, leading Seton Hall, who has the second most with 15.

Ejiofor won the Haggerty Award after leading the Red Storm to a second straight 30-win season, BIG EAST Regular Season and BIG EAST Tournament Championship. In addition, he anchored the Johnnies to an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the first time in 27 years. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 blocks in 37 starts and 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. Additionally, Ejiofor ranked second in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at 53.6%

Going down as one of the program's greats, the three-year Johnnie will be conferred with St. John's Legacy honors next season. He finished his career fifth in career blocks (165), sixth in single-season swats (79), 10^th in career field goal percentage (.547), third in single-season free throw attempts (259) and second in single-game attempts at the line, as he took 23 against Providence on Jan. 3. The big man ranked top-25 in NCAA Division I this season in free throw makes and attempts.

The two-year captain racked up a plethora of awards for his on-court performance this season. He was named the Naismith Starting Five Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year, an AP and USBWA Honorable Mention All-American, a College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American, ECAC Player of the Year and adds the Haggerty Award to his trophy case. 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.

The 93rd Haggerty MBWA Awards Dinner will be livestreamed here.

2025-26 All-MET Awards

Lt. Frank Haggerty Award Winner: Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's
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

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