St. John's RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor named to Big East first team
St. John's's RJ Luis Jr. shoots during the second half against Marquette on Saturday. Credit: AP/Morry Gash
St. John’s dominant run to the Big East regular-season championship and No. 6 national ranking brought rewards on Sunday afternoon, with RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor earning first-team all-conference selections and Kadary Richmond getting a spot on the second team.
Luis was one of four unanimous selections to the first team along with Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Marquette’s Kam Jones and Villanova’s Eric Dixon. Georgetown’s Micah Peavy also was named to the first team.
The last time St. John’s had two players on the first team was 1986, when Walter Berry and Mark Jackson were chosen.
Red Storm coach Rick Pitino was asked about the three players and the all-conference selections on Feb. 28 and replied, “I think Zuby is the most valuable player. RJ may be the most outstanding player and Kadary may be the most clutch player, getting the clutch rebound, the clutch score, the clutch pass.”
Luis is averaging 18.1 points and 7.1 rebounds. Ejiofor averages 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Richmond’s placement on the second team behind Peavy is likely to be met with skepticism. He was named to the first team last season when he played for Seton Hall.
In 20 conference games this season, he averaged 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.6 steals as the Red Storm went 18-2 in Big East play. In Saturday’s 86-84 overtime win at Marquette, he had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for St. John’s first triple-double since Ron Artest posted one against Seton Hall on Jan. 9, 1999.
Richmond, who has played through left and right groin pulls the last few weeks, also had only two turnovers in 42 minutes on Saturday.
Asked about the feat, he said, “Just going out there and giving effort and seeing my teammates thrive kept me going.”
“Easiest great player I’ve coached by far,” Pitino said of Richmond. “He owns up to everything, he listens. He’s highly intelligent. It’s always about his teammates, never about him.
“First triple-double since Ron Artest, and he won’t even pat himself on the back one bit. That type of humility in today’s generation is something to be proud of.”
Luis, as the top player on the top team, might be considered the favorite to be named the Big East Player of the Year when it is announced on Wednesday. Ejiofor is the clear favorite to be named the conference’s Most Improved Player on Monday after averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11 minutes per game last season as Joel Soriano’s backup.
“It would be a blessing to receive the award,” Luis said Saturday about his candidacy. “It would be an honor. What I did from last year to this year . . . I think is a pretty awesome story. But on top of that, to win the regular-season championship and have the season we’re [having] and do it with this group of guys, it feels really great.”
St. John’s (27-4) is the top seed for the upcoming Big East Tournament at the Garden and will play a quarterfinal game at noon on Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s 4:30 p.m. game between No. 9 Butler and eighth-seeded Providence.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
