Champions.
The story writes itself — like Rocky Balboa entering the 15th round against Apollo Creed. St. John’s took years enduring hits, being counted out, pinned against the ropes. The idea of the Red Storm atop the Big East felt like a grainy flashback to a lost era. Now, for the first time in Big East history — a team has won back-to-back regular season and tournament titles.
It was the ultimate rubber match — pulling away the title of “Fight of the Century” from Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier, capping off a fairytale trilogy in the World’s Greatest Arena. Back in October, when St. John’s received more votes to finish first place in the conference over UConn (by four), it almost felt like destiny that the two powerhouses would face again in March, for all the stakes.
The matchup between the powerhouses was the first-ever Big East conference championship game where both teams had 17+ Conference victories.
But just as it happened in the 2024-25 season, The Johnnies hoisted the Big East trophy, confetti fluttering over center-court — Zuby Ejiofor likely cemented himself into the rafters of Carneseca Arena, Rick Pitino became the first coach ever to win back-to-back conference tournament titles with two different programs. It sounds like the perfect ending to a movie, one with “Heroes” by David Bowie echoing in the background.
Every player and coach in the program deserved this moment, but for Ejiofor — the moment was even more special. Ejiofor transferred to Queens after a single season with Kansas, joining Rick Pitino in his first season at St. John’s. Since the day of his arrival, Zuby has grown into a leader, and a man as he explains himself.
“This place was dead,” said Rick Pitino just 24 hours before senior night. “Like Mashburn helped turn around Kentucky, Zuby Ejiofor helped the turnaround at St. John’s.”
Ejiofor’s resume has earned the retirement of the No. 24, two Big East First-Team honors, Big East Player Of the Year in 2025-26, Big East Defender Of the Year in 2025-26, along with two Big East regular season and conference tournament titles.
The scene on the floor at the Garden was electric, families joined players, celebrations commenced, Big East champion shirts flashed to the crowd, a deserving party for a 72-52 victory over UConn. The Dan Hurley — Rick Pitino matchup lived up to its hype.
The moment the ball tipped, the atmosphere in the Garden was like a shaken soda bottle waiting to pop — Johnnies’ nation showed up loud, helping to propel St. John’s to an outstanding 10-0 run. Otherworldly was the only way to describe the perfect play from the Red Storm, passing around the ball, taking the right shots, and holding UConn to a 28.6% start from the field while forcing four turnovers, and a Dan Hurley technical foul.
Like Rick Pitino said after the hard-fought victory over Seton Hall — the Johnnies bent, but never broke. UConn was able to cut into the St John’s lead, trailing 49-40 with 12 minutes left, but as they did all season, Pitino’s crew fought through the adversity, jumping out to a 69-49 lead with three minutes left with victory on the horizon.
At the podium, Pitino’s ear-to-ear grin said it all: he was proud of his men, a group that fought tooth and nail to earn a 20-point victory over the Huskies. During the festivities, Ejiofor was awarded the Most Outstanding Player in the Big East Tournament, scoring 18 points in the victory, along with nine rebounds and seven blocks.
Through the three-game tournament, Ejiofor averaged 19.7 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, one of the best runs in tournament history.
“It was bittersweet. We’ve had a target on our backs,” said Ejiofor. On playing at MSG for one last time. “We’ve had to battle through adversity. Nobody believed we could get to this moment but us.”
After a night of celebration, there’s still more work to do. The Red Storm will return to Carnesseca Arena tomorrow night for a school-sanctioned Selection Sunday watch party, where they anxiously await who’s next.
