Bill Self told St. John’s star Zuby Ejiofor he ‘wasn’t good enough to start’ at Kansas
· Yahoo Sports
Shortly after getting a commitment from Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson in May 2023, Kansas head coach Bill Self had an exit meeting with big man Zuby Ejiofor and his father Andy Philachack.
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The writing was on the wall.
The 7-foot-1 Dickinson was going to be the featured Kansas big man, and Ejiofor, who played just 5 minutes per game as a freshman, was the odd man out.
Self wanted Ejiofor to stay and redshirt, but the coach told Ejifor “he [was] not good enough to start and/or play major minutes on any Big 12 team,” Philacheck told NJ Advance Media.
“The conversation was pretty serious, Zuby didn’t like it at all,” Philacheck said. “Basically Zuby was like, ‘I didn’t even get a chance.’”
At that point, Ejiofor and Philacheck decided it was time to transfer.
“It was our [decision],” Philacheck said. “Coach wanted him to stay and had an option to redshirt him.”
The storyline took a hilarious turn this week when Mike Francesa said on his podcast that Ejiofor transferred because he was playing behind Joel Embiid, who had already been in the NBA nine seasons at that point.
The Self comments about Ejiofor were first reported by Ian O’Connor of The Athletic.
“Telling him he’s not good enough to play, that put a fire in (Zuby),” Philacheck told O’Connor. “It was like, ‘All right Dad, get me out of here.’”
Ejiofor visited Villanova and also considered TCU and San Diego State, but loved the message from St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.
“I heard everything they had to say and I felt the love from the entire staff and just how beautiful the campus was and how I saw myself developing,” Ejiofor told ZAGSBLOG in a phone interview at the time.
“We visited Villanova and we enjoyed our time there. We thought it was a great campus, we thought it was a good foot as far as basketball-wise, but when we went to St. John’s, everything fell right in place as far as the coaching staff. And coach Rick Pitino and the legacy he’s left on the game as well.”
Of course, Ejiofor didn’t start at St. John’s when he arrived, either, playing behind Joel Soriano for the 2023-24 season.
Ejiofor and Self will meet again on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in San Diego when No. 5 St. John’s faces No. 4 Kansas at 5:15 ET.
A spot in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. will be on the line.
Ejiofor has had a brilliant senior season, winning Preseason and postseason Big East Player of the Year awards, and being named MOP of the Big East Tournament.
He has also upped his NBA Draft stock, impressing scouts along the way.
Pitino has joked that he might retire when Ejiofor graduates, but he expects more from him against Kansas after his first-round performance against Northern Iowa when he posted 14 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes.
“He knows he didn’t play great tonight,” he told reporters. “He lost a few balls in the paint. He knows he didn’t play great because he’s a great player, but he played good. The great ones know.
“Zuby’s always trying to get better. He’s always talking about his teammates. He’s an all-American off the court because it’s all about his teammates. It’s never about him.
“He’s a huge throwback to what you see with young athletes today. It’s never about him. It’s always about the teammates. It’s always about St. John’s. He’s a great throwback. I’m going to miss him terribly, but he’s capable of playing much better than he played tonight, but he did play good.”
Ejiofor wants to lead St. John’s on a deep run in his final season, but he will have some added motivation against his former coach.
“He said he has nothing to prove to Bill,” Philacheck said. “He just wants to win this game more than anything.”
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