It looked like a breakaway dunk, an opportunity for Simeon Wilcher to show off his bounce to the Carnesecca Arena crowd.
The highly ranked freshman took off, gearing up for what he hoped would be the big highlight of the open practice. But, as he left his feet, it wasn’t just Wilcher and the rim anymore.
Zuby Ejiofor had sprinted back in this scrimmage, refusing to give up an easy basket. Wilcher missed the dunk — the result of getting hip-checked by the on-rushing Ejiofor — and landed awkwardly on his side. He was awarded two free throws.
It was a perfect example of what has endeared the big man to St. John’s coaching staff so far.
“Very few players I’ve coached have the ability to bring it every single day,” Rick Pitino told The Post in a recent interview. “From the day he arrived, he has not had a bad day just from an effort standpoint. I just think he laces them up and he goes full bore.”
If the season was starting now, Ejiofor would “100 percent” be a starter, Pitino said. The St. John’s staff grades players on their motors after every practice. It is broken into three categories: high, mid and low.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Kansas transfer leads everyone with the highest grade. He knows how to play only one way.
“It’s just a mentality,” said Ejiofor, who runs a sub-5 ¹/₂-minute mile. “It comes from the hard work that my family puts in, the extra shifts that my mom [Sandra] works and seeing how hard it is for her to just put food on the table for our family. It keeps pushing me on a daily basis.”
Ejiofor added, on the high motor grades he receives: “I take real pride in that, just for a coach like him to acknowledge me trying hard, just trying a little bit harder than the next person. I try to do that every single day, and bring the energy.”
It has been a part of his game since he first began playing organized basketball in the eighth grade, mentor Andy Philachack recalled. Ejiofor was born in Dallas but grew up in Nigeria. When he first picked up basketball upon returning to Texas in middle school, Ejiofor was raw. He had trouble catching passes and dribbling. He made up for it by running harder than everyone else.
Philachack, a chiropractor originally from Laos, saw potential in Ejiofor. He convinced him to join the AAU team he coached, and a relationship sprouted from there. Ejiofor considers him a second father, someone who created opportunities for him. (He has a relationship with his biological father, Collins, who lives in Nigeria.)
“Since the eighth grade, he’s the first person that believed in me, other than my mom,” Ejiofor said of Philachack. “He’s the one that believed and saw I had the opportunity and chance to be at a level like this, and hopefully make it to the next level, as well.”
As Ejiofor honed his skills, developing into a top-50 recruit at Garland High School in Texas, his on-court energy remained one of his strengths. His senior year, he was a TABC 6A All-State selection — posting 21.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 1.9 steals per game.
“That’s why we took him. He always had a great motor,” Kansas assistant coach and former St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts said. “His whole game that gives him the most success is his energy. … I always envisioned him being a lot like [NBA forward] Montrezl Harrell.”
Ejiofor’s one year in college didn’t go as planned. He battled injuries and found himself in a minor role, averaging 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game for powerhouse Kansas. The Jayhawks hoped Ejiofor would stay, but when they landed coveted Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, Ejiofor felt the best option was elsewhere.
“I think he has a chance to really, really grow as a player there,” Roberts said. “I would think he can be maybe an all-conference player by the time he’s a junior if everything falls right for him.
“We did not want to lose him, but we understand what college basketball is today.”
He heard from a number of schools upon entering the transfer portal, from TCU to Kentucky and Villanova to Providence. After visiting Villanova, Ejiofor was going to see Providence. But he ended up visiting St. John’s instead, because of Pitino’s presence, Philachack said.
On the visit, Pitino put Ejiofor through a one-on-one workout and slapped on the full-court press afterward. Ejiofor, Pitino told him and Philachack, would have an opportunity to play both power forward and center in Queens and be given a major role for St. John’s immediately. Ejiofor committed before leaving campus.
“Nothing better than playing ball in New York,” Ejiofor said.
He remains very much a work in progress from a skill standpoint. In a recent scrimmage, Ejiofor missed his first six free throws, causing Pitino to put his hands over his face at one point. He is still learning the offensive and defensive systems, and is inexperienced, having played infrequently a year ago. But, as Pitino noted, he is an early front-runner to be a starter because of his effort level and the active inside presence he provides at both ends of the floor.
The Hall of Fame coach is hoping more of his players can work like Ejiofor and point guard Daniss Jenkins, the other Johnnie who rarely gets a poor motor grade.
“It’s a habit, more so than a skill. It’s a habit that very few have,” Pitino said. “What happens with guys like that is they reach their potential. They play hard, so they leave nothing to chance. He’s just learning the game. … He jumps well, he has a good-looking shot. He’s an athlete playing the game of basketball and now he has to learn basketball skills and he will learn them because he’s such a hard worker.”
