Zuby Ejiofor of St. John's wins Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Villanova duo also honored

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW YORK (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor of St. John's was selected Big East Defensive Player of the Year in balloting by the league's head coaches announced Monday.

Villanova guard Tyler Perkins was chosen Most Improved Player, and teammate Devin Askew won the Sixth Man Award. Creighton senior Josh Dix received the Sportsmanship Award.

The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Ejiofor was the only unanimous pick on the All-Big East first team and the inaugural Big East All-Defensive Team revealed Sunday. After leading the 13th-ranked Red Storm (25-6, 18-2) to their second consecutive outright regular-season championship, the senior forward is a clear frontrunner for conference player of the year, which will be announced Wednesday.

Ejiofor was one of two players in the country with at least 60 blocked shots and 30 steals during the regular season. He ranks sixth in the Big East with 7.1 rebounds per game.

The league's preseason player of the year as well, Ejiofor became the fifth St. John’s player to win Big East Defensive Player of the Year and first since freshman guard Posh Alexander in 2021.

The top-seeded Johnnies begin defense of their 2025 Big East Tournament title Thursday in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.

Perkins led third-place Villanova (24-7, 15-5) in scoring at 15.2 points per game in conference play and averaged 6.2 rebounds. The 6-4 junior averaged 6.3 points overall for the Wildcats last season after transferring from Penn.

Askew averaged 10.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 23 minutes in Big East action, coming off the bench in 19 league games before the 6-5 guard started on Senior Day.

Dix led Creighton in scoring at 12.7 points per game during his first season at the school after spending three years at Iowa. On the morning of a game at Georgetown in early February, he learned his mother Kelly had died of breast cancer.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball