By: Chuck Stogel, MBWA, 914-428-6111, chstogel@aol.com
NEW YORK (April 24, 2024) --- Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s University has been selected the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award winner for 2025-26 as announced Thursday by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.
Presented annually since 1936 by the MBWA, the Haggerty Award denotes the area’s Division I Men’s Player of the Year. The Met realm encompasses 21 Division I programs, and 70 colleges and universities across all divisions.
Ejiofor, who was accompanied on the All-Met First Team by Red Storm teammate Bryce Hopkins, was scheduled to be honored along with the All-Met teams from Divisions I, II and II, on Thursday evening during the 93rd MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel & Conference Center in Tarrytown, NY.
The Haggerty dinner is the longest running, media-managed college basketball awards program in the United States.
In addition to Ejiofor and Hopkins, other players from St. John’s named All-Met were Dillon Mitchell, Second Team; Dylan Darling, Third Team; Oziyah Sellers, Honorable Mention.
A 6-9 senior forward from Garland, TX, Ejiofor --- who accomplished the unique distinction of being named the Big East player of the year, Defensive player of the year and conference Scholar-Athlete of the year --- also was named both an Associated Press and USBWA All-America Honorable Mention, and to the NABC North Atlantic First Team.
A transfer to St. John’s after spending his freshman season at Kansas, Ejiofor led the Red Storm (30-7, 18-2) in 2025-26 with 604 points, 16.3 points per game, 200 field goals made, 186 free throws made, 271 rebounds, 7.3 rebounds per game and 131 assists, while shooting 53.6% from the floor. He started all 37 team contests, and registered single-game career highs during the season with 33 points scored, 15 rebounds and 14 free throws made.
Surrounded by an All-Met cast of teammates, Ejiofor propelled SJU to a second straight outright Big East regular season crown and a second consecutive conference tournament title. He was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Big East playoffs at Madison Square Garden by averaging 19.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 1.3 steals.
In the Red Storm run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen stage, Ejiofor in three games averaged 16.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
Including Kansas and three seasons at St. John’s, Ejiofor, an All-Met First Team selection in 2024-25, totaled 1,305 points and 707 rebounds for his collegiate career.
Ejiofor represents the 29th time and second in a row that a player from St. John’s has been awarded the MBWA’s Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award as the most outstanding Division I men’s player in the Met realm.
Among those preceding Ejiofor at St. John’s as Haggerty Award winners were three-time honoree Chris Mullin (1983-84-85) and two-time recipients Dick McGuire (1944, 1949) and Malik Sealy (1991-92). The most recent SJU player to earn the award prior to Ejiofor was R.J. Luis Jr. in 2025.
The Haggerty Award arguably is the oldest and most prestigious honor given to a Met area college basketball player. The award is named in memory of
Lt. Frank J. Haggerty, a shortstop in baseball and co-captain/forward on the basketball team who was the first student from St. John’s killed in World War II.
The Haggerty Awards dinner Thursday evening is to be Livestreamed via the MBWA website. Here is the link: https://metbasketballwriters.org/2026haggertylivestream
For a list of previous Men's Division I Awards:
Year-by-Year Haggerty Award Winners Bios • List of Haggerty Award Winners