7. St. John’s (5-seed)
Dylan Darling (Junior – Guard)
Darling was a bench piece at Washington State and a scoring machine at Idaho State, but he’s settled into something of an in-between role with the Red Storm. His numbers won’t blow you away and don’t compare to that time in the Big Sky, but it’s hard to complain about 6.9 points and 2.6 assists per game in his role. Most notably, he hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to sink Kansas and send St. John’s into this Sweet Sixteen, their first in nearly thirty years while continuing to bring energy onto the court.
Zuby Ejiofor (Senior – Forward)
After grabbing basically every award from the Big East, Ejiofor is looking for even more hardware here in the NCAA Tournament. Named Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP, he’s averaging 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists and is one of the productive players remaining in the NCAA Tournament. The Kansas transfer had 18 points and 9 rebounds to help sink his former school in the second round and looks to continue this very productive run through March.
Bryce Hopkins (Senior – Forward)
Another high-profile transfer that’s excelling with Rick Pitino, Hopkins was already a major playmaker in the Big East at Providence before heading to St. John’s this past offseason. His numbers aren’t quite on par with his time with the Friars but the production has been there at 13.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. He certainly earned those Second Team All-Big East honors with that scoring and rebounding ability and was key with 18 points and 7 rebounds against Kansas to keep this season progressing.
Dillon Mitchell (Senior – Forward)
A former 5-star recruit at Texas, Mitchell worked hard with the Longhorns and at Cincinnati before finding a third home here with the Red Storm. He’s become a productive part of this frontcourt, averaging 8.2 points and 7.1 rebounds while making 55% of his field goals. All of those numbers are down compared to his recent seasons but that’s not important for Mitchell, who has become more of a key cog on a much better St. John’s team.
Oziyah Sellers (Senior – Guard)
Sellers has nearly matched the production of a great junior year at Stanford, though he’s certainly happier with the results here compared to his time out west. He’s putting up 10.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and brings great energy on both sides of the ball. While Sellers wasn’t very effective in that game over Kansas, he remains an important weapon to St. John’s recent success and future run as well as one of the most productive 3-point shooters in the Big East.