NEW YORK (AP) — St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor was the only unanimous selection Sunday to an All-Big East first team that included an unprecedented three players from No. 4 UConn.
Ejiofor propelled the 18th-ranked Red Storm (25-6, 18-2) to their second consecutive outright regular-season title, averaging 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and 1.8 blocks in league games.
He is the lone player in high-major college basketball to lead his team and rank among the top 10 in his conference in all four of those statistical categories.
Silas Demary Jr., Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. made UConn (27-4, 17-3) the first school to put three players on the All-Big East first team in one season. Michael Ajayi of Butler and Tre Carroll of Xavier joined them on the squad. Balloting was conducted by the league’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
The award for Player of the Year will go to one of those six Wednesday, when Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year also will be revealed during a news conference at Madison Square Garden a few hours before the Big East Tournament begins.
UConn guard Solo Ball and St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins headlined the All-Big East second team, which also featured Seton Hall guard Budd Clark, Villanova guard Acaden Lewis and conference scoring champion Jaylin Sellers of Providence.
Because of a tie in balloting, the third team had six players: Villanova teammates Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins, Butler guard Finley Bizjack, Georgetown guard KJ Lewis, Marquette guard Nigel James Jr. and St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell.
James and Acaden Lewis were unanimous selections to the All-Freshman Team, along with UConn’s Braylon Mullins and Providence’s Stefan Vaaks. Jamier Jones from Providence made it as well.
Ejiofor, the conference preseason player of the year, also was the only unanimous pick for the inaugural Big East All-Defensive Team, which included Mitchell, Clark, Demary and Chase Ross from Marquette.
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