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Mar 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) goes in for a dunk against the Duke Blue Devils in the second half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images
Few players were as impactful for their team as Zuby Ejiofor was this season, so it came as no surprise that he was named the winner of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award on Saturday.
The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award is awarded to the country’s best center at the end of every season. Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky was the first winner when the honor was established in 2015.
Ejiofor became the first St. John’s player to ever win one of the five major positional awards granted by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and joins Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner as the only three Big East players to take home the honor of the nation’s best big man. The Red Storm’s star was selected among finalists Graham Ike from Gonzaga, Alex Condon from Florida, Flory Bidunga from Kansas, and Henri Veesaar from North Carolina.
This award serves as the cherry on top of an overwhelmingly successful senior season for Zuby Ejiofor. The 6-foot-9 center guided the Johnnies to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1999, as well as back-to-back Big East regular season and tournament titles. Ejiofor was the only high-major player to lead his team in scoring, field goal percentage, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game, averaging 16.3 points on 53.6% shooting, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 blocks per contest.
Earlier this month, Ejiofor became the first player in league history to win Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards in the same season. Despite his many accolades, Ejiofor was only an AP All-American Honorable Mention.
Ejiofor completes his St. John’s basketball career scoring 1,274 points, pulling down 664 rebounds, giving out 214 assists, and rejecting 165 shots, the fourth-most blocks in Red Storm program history.
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