Zuby Ejiofor sits at the center of St. John's draft conversation, with Rick Pitino saying the Knicks could really use him and that he had been told Ejiofor had a great workout with them. The 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on Tuesday and Wednesday could put one of three Red Storm standouts into the NBA.
Rick Pitino on Zuby Ejiofor
“I think that the Knicks would benefit a lot with Zuby,” Pitino said in a phone interview on Sunday. “I really do and it's not just because of the local team.” He added, “I think the Knicks could really use Zuby.”
He pointed to the frontcourt fit in direct terms: “They need another frontcourt player that can play defense, rebound the basketball, pass the basketball, score it.” Pitino then said, “And I think they're a team that could really use him.”
That frontcourt profile is the same reason Ejiofor keeps surfacing in draft talk with Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins. The three helped form the best frontcourt in the Big East this past season, and Ejiofor was the 2026 Big East Player of the Year.
Dillon Mitchell at Madison Square Garden
Mitchell also put a personal marker on the draft conversation. “It'd be insane,” he said on Zoom on Sunday when asked about the possibility of hearing his name called. He added, “I remember talking with them.”
His clearest line came when he talked about returning to Madison Square Garden: “They know I know the atmosphere at MSG [and] being able to play there, man, it'd be exciting.” Mitchell followed that with, “Just to be there with all those fans again and [Coach P.]... and St. John's is right there, not too far away?”
He ended that thought with the part that ties him directly to the stage ahead: “Just being able to compete at MSG again, it would mean a lot to me.”
St. John's and the draft drought
Three St. John's standouts could be among the 60 selections in the 2026 NBA Draft, but the program has not been a regular producer of draft picks in recent years. The last NBA Draft pick St. John's produced was Sir’Dominic Pointer in the second round of 2015, and the last first-round pick was Maurice Harkless at No. 15 in 2012.
The longer history makes the current moment sharper. St. John's last had two players selected in 2000 and three selected in 1983, which is why this draft week has taken on more weight around the program after its first NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 since 1999.
If Ejiofor, Mitchell or Hopkins comes off the board at Barclays Center, St. John's would be adding to a season that already pushed the program back into the national conversation. If none of them does, the draft talk still says something plain: the Red Storm have moved from being a team chasing respect to one with names in the NBA Draft mix again.
