As the Johnnies forward took the floor Friday, St. John's fans dressed in red yelled “Zooby, Zuby, Zuby.”
Every time a forward made an aggressive play, there was a cheer of “zuby, zuby, zuby.”
“Zooby, zooby, zooby,” they shouted as he finally checked out.
Red Storm fans were cheering 24 hours after Zuby Ejiofor's two missed free throws in the final seconds led to No. 22 St. John's heartbreaking loss to No. 13 Baylor.
“Obviously it was a surprise for me and my family. I felt good. I really wanted to thank the St. John's fans for making me feel good and warming my heart,” the junior said.・Said after Johns finished. They bounced back by defeating Virginia 80-55 in the repechage of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship. “There aren't many [fans] That's what it's going to do.
“Obviously, last night was really emotional for me. They chanted my name and made me feel good before tipoff, so I can't play anywhere else. did.”
Ejiofor didn't put up big numbers with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, but he was solid.
St. John's outscored Virginia by 34 points in 26 minutes.
After a slow start this year, he has picked up his game.
The 6-foot-9 Ejiofor was outstanding against New Mexico on Sunday, recording 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Baylor.
But all he was thinking about was Jeremy Roach's two missed free throws that allowed St. John's to beat St. John's at the buzzer with 4.1 seconds left in the second overtime.
After the setback, he broke down in tears as the Johnnys left the floor.
“It was pretty tough,” Ejiofor said. “Of course we would like to get that back.”
He told himself he had to forget about it and not let it affect his game against Virginia. Ejiofor did not expect so much support.
Neither did coach Rick Pitino.
“Sometimes when you're only in a place for a year, you look for what you like about a place, and tonight, I found what I like about St. John's since I've been here,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “You won’t be able to chant zuby for the entire game.” [else] In America. I was really, really impressed with the fans and thanked them for making Zuby feel good. ”
