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LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self described St. John’s as a hot No. 5 seed on Sunday, March 15, ahead of the start of this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament, and it’s hard to disagree with that.
St. John’s just won the Big East Conference tournament, crushing a UConn team in the final recently that will be a No. 2 seed in the East Region — where No. 4 seed KU and St. John’s both reside. St. John’s also won the Big East regular season championship. Leading the Red Storm is a senior in Zuby Ejiofor who was named that conference’s player of the year, too.
But while Kansas must get past No. 13 seed California Baptist and St. John’s dispatch No. 12 seed Northern Iowa first in order for the Jayhawks and Red Storm to meet in the NCAA tournament, the intrigue of that potential matchup is clear. For one, Self would be coaching against another all-time great head coach in Rick Pitino. For another, Ejiofor started his college career at KU before transferring to St. John’s after his freshman year.
RELATED: Kansas basketball vs California Baptist: NCAA tournament time, date
“I believe (Pitino)’s as good as our business has, so we’ll have to prepare really hard for that, if we’re fortunate enough to get past and beat Cal Baptist — which, we’re not going to look ahead past anybody, and certainly not them,” Self said. “But I’m happy for Zuby, a guy that — we didn’t want Zuby to leave. You got Zuby, Ernest (Udeh Jr.) was still here at that time, and we recruited Hunter (Dickinson). So, he made the right decision for (Ejiofor). But he’s a terrific kid and he’s had unbelievable success. So, I’m really happy for him.”
Ejiofor is averaging 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for St. John’s (28-6). He’s not just their leader in points and rebounds, but in assists and blocks, too. As Self alluded to, the opportunity for consistent playing time might have been difficult to come by in recent years with the way Kansas’ roster would be constructed, and Ejiofor has made the most of the chance he took on himself at St. John’s.
Facing Pitino would make it yet another year that Self would be a part of a high-profile coaching matchup. Last year, he faced coach John Calipari’s Arkansas side in a game that KU would lose in the round of 64. The year before, he faced coach Mark Few’s Gonzaga side in a game KU would lose in the round of 32.
Time will tell if this potential matchup winds up happening. KU plays Friday, March 20 at 8:45 p.m. (CT) against California Baptist in San Diego, California. St. John’s plays Northern Iowa on Friday at 6:10 p.m. (CT).
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas vs St Johns potential NCAA Tournament game with Zuby Ejiofor
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St. John’s just won the Big East Conference tournament, crushing a UConn team in the final recently that will be a No. 2 seed in the East Region — where No. 4 seed KU and St. John’s both reside. St. John’s also won the Big East regular season championship. Leading the Red Storm is a senior in Zuby Ejiofor who was named that conference’s player of the year, too.
But while Kansas must get past No. 13 seed California Baptist and St. John’s dispatch No. 12 seed Northern Iowa first in order for the Jayhawks and Red Storm to meet in the NCAA tournament, the intrigue of that potential matchup is clear. For one, Self would be coaching against another all-time great head coach in Rick Pitino. For another, Ejiofor started his college career at KU before transferring to St. John’s after his freshman year.
RELATED: Kansas basketball vs California Baptist: NCAA tournament time, date
“I believe (Pitino)’s as good as our business has, so we’ll have to prepare really hard for that, if we’re fortunate enough to get past and beat Cal Baptist — which, we’re not going to look ahead past anybody, and certainly not them,” Self said. “But I’m happy for Zuby, a guy that — we didn’t want Zuby to leave. You got Zuby, Ernest (Udeh Jr.) was still here at that time, and we recruited Hunter (Dickinson). So, he made the right decision for (Ejiofor). But he’s a terrific kid and he’s had unbelievable success. So, I’m really happy for him.”
Ejiofor is averaging 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for St. John’s (28-6). He’s not just their leader in points and rebounds, but in assists and blocks, too. As Self alluded to, the opportunity for consistent playing time might have been difficult to come by in recent years with the way Kansas’ roster would be constructed, and Ejiofor has made the most of the chance he took on himself at St. John’s.
Facing Pitino would make it yet another year that Self would be a part of a high-profile coaching matchup. Last year, he faced coach John Calipari’s Arkansas side in a game that KU would lose in the round of 64. The year before, he faced coach Mark Few’s Gonzaga side in a game KU would lose in the round of 32.
Time will tell if this potential matchup winds up happening. KU plays Friday, March 20 at 8:45 p.m. (CT) against California Baptist in San Diego, California. St. John’s plays Northern Iowa on Friday at 6:10 p.m. (CT).
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas vs St Johns potential NCAA Tournament game with Zuby Ejiofor
Continue reading...
