Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor commits to St. John's
No, Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor will not be Oscar Tshiebwe‘s replacement at Kentucky. Instead, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward will play for Rick Pitino at St. John’s, he told On3’s Joe Tipton on Monday.
Ejiofor, a former four-star recruit, first took an official visit to Villanova from May 11-13 before taking a trip to St. John’s from May 13-15 — that wrapped up today. He had two scheduled to TCU (May 27) and San Diego State (May 28-30), then planned on saving one for Kentucky, assuming Oscar Tshiebwe stayed in the draft.
UK was among the 40-plus schools to reach out after he hit the portal back on May 5, telling Ejiofor he was wanted in Lexington if the former national player of the year was out.
“The coaching staff just called to touch base and to let us know that they will come after Zuby if Oscar doesn’t come back,” a source close to the Kansas transfer told KSR. “(We) will save (a visit) for Kentucky. They said he played great against Kentucky, but unfortunately, he got hurt.”
Fast forward to the conclusion of his visit with Rick Pitino and the Red Storm, and Ejiofor clearly wasn’t willing to wait around. Future visits canceled, commitment made to St. John’s.
The native of Garland, Texas averaged 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.2 minutes per contest as a freshman in Lawrence. Playing in just 25 total games, he hit the double-figure minute mark four times — 10 vs. Duke, 11 vs. Texas Southern, 12 vs. Indiana and 10 vs. Oklahoma State. He finished with two points, five rebounds and two blocks against the Blue Devils, eight points, two rebounds and a block against the Hoosiers, and four points and three rebounds against the Cowboys.
A consensus four-star prospect out of high school, he was rated as the No. 51 overall prospect and No. 7 power forward in the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. The versatile forward originally chose Kansas over Arkansas, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas, among others.
Now, he’ll be joining Rick Pitino in New York.
As for Kentucky, the wait continues with Tshiebwe as he tests the waters, spending this week at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. He has until May 31 to withdraw and return to college. If not, former four-star recruit Isaiah Miranda is the only other portal big man with confirmed contact from the Wildcats at this point.
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