February 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm forward Jubi Ejiofor (24) drives toward the basket in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Rick Pitino will join St. Louis in March 2023. About two months after being hired as St. John’s coach, Zuby Ejiofor joined the Red Storm as a former top recruit who received limited playing time in his only season at Kansas.
He went to St. Although he was Joel Soriano’s backup in his first season at St. John’s, over the past two seasons Ejiofor has been one of the key figures in helping the Red Storm climb into the upper tier of the Big East Conference.
Ejiofor is scheduled to play his final home game after being honored during a pregame ceremony Tuesday night when No. 15 St. John’s hosts Georgetown in New York.
The Red Storm (23-6, 16-2 Big East) lead the conference, a half-game behind UConn, after Ejiofor recorded a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in Saturday’s 89-57 rout of Villanova. The 32-point win came three days after a 72-40 loss at UConn.
Ejiofor played for St. Louis two seasons ago. He averaged 4.3 points in 11.2 minutes as St. John’s went 20-13 and had just advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, he averaged 14.7 rebounds and 8.1 rebounds, helping the Red Storm win the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2000. The 6-foot-9 senior forward was named conference preseason player of the year this season.
“You can see what this game means to (Pitino). It’s not just basketball,” Ejiofor said. “I’ve literally grown up here the last three years. I remember being nervous going into games with Coach Pitino and St. John’s. We still make mistakes, but (now) we can overcome them and it starts with him.”
On Saturday, Ejiofor recorded his second triple-double in the Big East this season. He also became the fourth player in school history to have a triple-double since 1993, joining former teammate Kadary Richmond along with Ron Artest and David Cain.
“It’s a really good game because he plays every day,” Pitino said. “That’s what great people do.
“I love Zuby as much as (anyone). I give him so much love because he knows I love him . . . I know I can count on him every day.”
Ejiofor recorded one of six double-doubles this season, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 95-83 win at Georgetown on Dec. 31. The Red Storm shot 50 percent from the field (30 of 60), hit 15 3-pointers in the first meeting and have won their last 10 meetings with the Hoyas.
Georgetown (13-16, 5-13) has its longest skid against the Red Storm and is coming off its sixth season below .500 in the past seven seasons, including the second of three seasons under coach Ed Cooley.
The Hoyas won four straight from Jan. 24 to Feb. 4, but a six-game skid left them tied for last place with Marquette. Georgetown is also playing the remainder of the season without leading scorer KJ Lewis, who suffered a left ankle injury after averaging 14.9 points.
Lewis suffered the injury in Tuesday’s 76-60 loss to Marquette. In their first game without him, the Hoyas lost 91-84 to Xavier on Saturday. Kayvaun Mulready scored 19 points, Malik Mack added 17 points and Jeremiah Williams started for Lewis and had 10 points on 52.7% offensive shooting.
“We definitely didn’t have the year I expected,” Cooley said of his team, which finished sixth in the Big East preseason poll. “It was disappointing, but at the same time we still have games to play. We want to play with pride and with a huge amount of energy and tenacity.”
–Field level media
