By Micahel Swain, 247Sports.com
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas basketball forward Zuby Ejiofor will transfer from KU, multiple sources tell Phog.net. Ejiofor departs KU after his first season with the program. His departure comes in the immediate aftermath of KU landing five-star transfer Hunter Dickinson. Ejiofor will have three seasons of playing eligibility and a redshirt at his disposal at his next school.
Ejiofor’s playing time fluctuated during his freshman season as a Jayhawk. He was in and out of KU’s rotation during the season, getting stints as KU’s first big man off the bench and stints where he was down in the rotation. As the year went on, Ejiofor found himself behind Ernest Udeh Jr. in the rotation. In the end, he played in 25 of KU’s 36 games during the season. Over the course of the year, Ejiofor averaged 1.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 5.1 minutes per game.
Ejiofor was a four-star prospect coming out of high school in Garland, Texas. He picked the Jayhawks over 10 other offers from the likes of Arkansas, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas, to name a few. He was the No. 47-ranked prospect in the 2022 class, the No. 5-ranked power forward and the No. 6-ranked recruit in the state of Texas during his cycle.
Coming out of high school, 247Sports’ Brandon Jenkins provided the following scouting report, while projecting him to have the potential of being a second round pick.
“Ejiofor is an athletic physical force to be reckoned with. He is strong, productive on the glass, talented, and increasingly versatile offensively from 20 feet and in. His versatility is in his offensive approach. He likes to post up or face up and attack to score through contact. Ejiofor has a college-ready body in which he relies on physicality to compensate against others who are taller and longer. He still has ways to go in terms of adding functional strength and struggles guarding in space. He additionally needs polish as he lacks feel for the game but is a blank canvas when looking at his offensive skillset. Once he learns how to be effective in the screen and roll game, his production should increase tremendously.”
In the first year of the portal windows, the college basketball transfer portal begins March 13 and runs until May 11. Numerous graduate transfers already entered the transfer portal prior to the March 13 opening, but that date kicked off the 60-day window for the rest of the prospective transfers to hop in the portal to examine their options. The one-time transfer rule is still intact, per usual. If a player has not transferred yet, they are immediately eligible. In Ejiofor’s case, he is a first time transfer so he can be immediately eligible at his next school.
