Zuby Ejiofor gives St. John’s Ian Jackson a March Madness pep talk

SAN DIEGO — Shortly after the buzzer of St. John’s NCAA Tournament opening-round victory, as Zuby Ejiofor was ready for his on-court tv interview, he pulled Ian Jackson apart.

Ejiofor was reminding the sophomore, who had a strong second half after a shaky begin in the route of Northern Iowa, that he’s going to be wanted because the match continues.

“Just trying to pick up my teammate. I saw he was a little bit down,” Ejiofor recalled. “I was telling him that I need him to be aggressive. He’s a tremendous player, even a better person. We’re going to definitely need him in this tournament. I was just telling him to not worry about the noise. Just go out there and have fun, smile and play your game.”

Jackson appreciated it. It has been an up-and-down yr again residence for the Bronx native.

“Super important, especially coming from Zuby, coming from our captain, someone who is a decorated player,” he stated. “To know that my teammates need me is super important.”

A variety of St. John’s followers have been sad to see the workforce despatched out west for the primary weekend of the NCAA Tournament, however Oziyah Sellers did not thoughts. He grew up in Hayward, Calif., a seven-hour drive from San Diego, and had a lot of family and friends in attendance on the opener.

“Seeing my family in the crowd definitely gave me some motivation to go out there and play for them,” he stated.

With a win on Sunday over Kansas, St. John’s will attain 30 victories for the second consecutive season. The final time that occurred was in 1984-85 and 1985-86. … This will mark simply the second assembly ever between St. John’s coach Rick Pitino and Kansas’ Bill Self. The solely different matchup occurred when Pitino was at Iona University in the course of the 2021-22 season. Kansas prevailed by 13.