Rick Pitino recently offered Zuby Ejiofor the ultimate compliment he can give, in comparing the star forward’s impact at St. John’s to that of one of his greatest players, Jamal Mashburn at Kentucky.
Mashburn, now a college basketball analyst for Turner Sports, also has a flattering compliment for Ejiofor.
“You know who he reminds me of, and let’s take this with a grain of salt,” Mashburn told The Post in a phone interview Monday. “In my opinion, Zuby can identify with a young Bam Adebayo. Not a Bam Adebayo that you see today getting 83 [points for the Heat], but look at when Bam was drafted 14th, he was basically a rim protector, offensive rebounder. Nobody knew he could step out and shoot. I think that’s going to be the same kind of pathway when Zuby gets to the pro level in those workouts. They’re going to see things that they probably haven’t seen him do in a St. John’s uniform because he had to sacrifice. He can step out and shoot a 3-point shot better than is requested for him to make an impact on this St. John’s team.”
Mashburn is bullish on Ejiofor’s chances to be a longtime NBA player, echoing St. John’s legend Mark Jackson, who believes the 6-foot-9 big man should be a first-round pick in June’s draft.
“I think Zuby will probably be a better pro than he was a college player, because of the dynamic of the pro game,” Mashburn said. “He may not need to shoot the 3 [at a high level immediately], but I know from Day 1, he can walk in there and he can offensive rebound, block shots and guard his area, which is valuable, regardless of the style of play.”
Ejiofor, the Big East Player of the Year and Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, has been the face of the Pitino era at St. John’s.
From a player standpoint, he’s the common denominator between the past two championship teams.
He’s the only high-major player in the country to lead his team in scoring (16.3), rebounds (7.1), assists (3.5) and blocked shots (2.1).
He is also the latest Pitino developmental success story.
He came to Queens after rarely playing as a freshman at Kansas, and is now considered one of the premier forwards in the nation. When he was named the league’s top player last week, he showered Pitino with praise.
“He really changed my life a lot,” Ejiofor said then.
Statements like those, and Ejiofor’s metamorphosis, are only going to help Pitino and St. John’s as it looks to reload this spring.
“It sends a message to recruits that it’s not just about the school, it’s about the betterment of the player, but you have to buy into the culture and the system of working hard,” Mashburn said. “The proof is in the pudding. There’s something to point to that other players can follow. You can [have a] case study of how he took one player from Point A to potentially getting drafted.”
