St. John's Standout Trio Earns All-Big East Honors

 

RJ Luis Jr. going along the baseline for a layup against Villanova on January 11th. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm, who won the regular season conference championship, saw three of their best players earn All-Big East honors on Sunday.

RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor earned spots on the All-Big East First Team - the first time a pair of Red Storm players were on it together since Walter Berry and Mark Jackson in 1986. It's fitting because, on Saturday, St. John's earned its 27th regular season win, matching the team record set in the 1985-86 season.

Kadary Richmond was placed on the All-Big East Second Team, giving St. John's its first season with three all-conference selections in 25 years. In the 1999-2000 season, Erick Barkley was placed on the First Team, Lavor Postell the Second Team, and Bootsy Thornton the Third Team.

Luis Jr., Ejiofor, and Richmond averaged a combined 44.9 points and 21.5 rebounds per game.

Luis Jr. was a unanimous selection, after a season in which he averaged 18.1 points on 44.6 percent shooting from the field, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He and fellow First Team selection Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton were the only two players in the Big East to rank in the top six in scoring and rebounding.

In the final three games of the regular season, in which Luis Jr. led them in scoring in each one, he averaged 24.3 points per game. Luis Jr. led St. John's with 28 points (10-19 FG, 3-7 three-pointers), with 11 rebounds, six offensive, for a double-double in their 86-84 overtime win at Marquette on Saturday. Before that, on Saturday, March 1, against Seton Hall, he had 21 points (7-13 FG, 2-4 on threes), with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. On February 26, he had 24 points on 9-16 shooting, including 3-6 from behind the arc, with four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in a win at Butler.

Ejiofor averages 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He leads NCAA Division I in offensive rebounding, as he has notched 4.3 per game this season. 

In addition to hitting the game-winner over Marquette on Saturday, Ejiofor had a double-double, with 17 points on 5-9 from the field and 1-2 from behind the arc, with 12 rebounds - seven of which were on the offensive end - one assist and one steal.

That was his ninth double-double on the season, and he has scored in double-digits in 22 of his last 23 appearances.

Richmond earned All-Big East honors for the second straight season after he was a first-team selection last year for Seton Hall.

This season, the point guard has started 30 of 31 games, and averaged 12.7 points on 48.5% shooting from the field, with 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 steals, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1 this season.

In Big East play this season, in which St. John's went 18-2, Richmond averaged 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.6 steals. 

In Saturday's win at Marquette, Richmond had a triple-double with 10 points (5-13 FG), 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, along with four steals. He is the first St. John’s player to have a triple-double since Ron Artest on January 9, 1999.

Richmond ranks high on all the Big East leader boards, as he is third in steals with 2.1, fourth in assists (5.3), fourth in field goal percentage (48.5%), tied for 10th in rebounding (6.1), seventh in defensive rebounding (4.7), 11th in blocks (0.9), and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6).