Zuby Ejiofor’s mentor and KU coach Bill Self discuss freshman entering transfer portal

Kansas’ addition of senior big man Hunter Dickinson through the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal on Thursday has led to the departure of KU freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor through that same portal on Friday.

Such is the world of college basketball heading into the 2023-24 season.

“Yes sir, 100%,” Andy Philachack, Ejiofor’s mentor, told The Star on Friday, when asked if the commitment of 7-foot-1 Michigan standout Dickinson led directly to Ejiofor’s decision to leave KU after one season.

Ejiofor is a 6-9 forward from Garland, Texas who logged 5.1 minutes per game in 25 games his one year at KU while Dickinson is a two-time first-team all-Big Ten pick with the Wolverines. Dickinson announced for KU over Kentucky, Maryland, Villanova and others Thursday; Ejiofor entered the portal Friday.

“That is 32 minutes gone already. It’ll be eight minutes between Zuby and Ernest (Udeh, 6-11 KU sophomore-to-be),” Philachack added. “We did some math. We decided this was the best move for our son. Coach (Bill Self) backed us up. He always has our back.”

Philachack stressed there were no hard feelings on either side. He said there “were hugs” at the Friday meeting in which Ejiofor and Philachack informed Self of their decision to enter the portal.

“Coach said, ‘Zuby is the best kid,’” Philachack said. “We love Kansas, but with Ernest and Hunter here, the playing time is going to be limited. We love coach Self. We wish we could stay. It’s not going to work out. He cannot be sitting another year, his freshman year, sophomore year. If that happens you can lose confidence. He (Ejiofor) is a talented player. Coach Self agrees. He knows Zuby needs (playing time).”

Philachack said in leaving on good terms, “maybe in three to four weeks if a scholarship is open (at KU) we may end up back here. If a spot is open in three to four weeks I’m sure coach (Self) would be open to take him back. We will do our visits and do everything possible to find a good spot for Zuby. I’m sure in a couple hours my phone will be blowing up (from other schools).”

Self told The Star in a phone conversation Friday one never knows about the future, especially in this day and age.

“We love Zuby. We wish him all the best. We’d have to re-evaluate where we are in three to four weeks,” Self said. “When someone is making a decision to enter the portal, they are saying they are looking for something else. It’d be silly for us to wait on the answer but obviously I’d revisit anything at the correct time.”

Regarding Ejiofor and his mentor Philachack, a medical doctor Zuby has referred to as a father figure, doing math on possible playing time with Dickinson joining the program, Self said: “I do not disagree with their thinking. We respect his thought process in making the decision. It’s logical thinking but I’d think there are other ways (to think about transferring too).”

Of the portal and the way one move (adding Dickinson) can lead to another (losing Ejiofor), Self told the Star: “The way our world works, you have rules in which you maximize efforts to improve your team within the rules. We’ve done well in the portal with scholarships we have available. Sometimes there are unintended consequences. Doing well may impact somebody else, which is the way it is in college basketball recruiting. We absolutely did not want him to go and certainly sometimes unattended consequences in doing well may impact somebody else.”

KU has lost seven players to the transfer portal since season’s end. Five have already picked new schools. The five are: Bobby Pettiford (East Carolina), Cam Martin (Boise State), Zach Clemence (Santa Barbara), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State) and MJ Rice (North Carolina State). Kyle Cuffe Jr. has not announced a destination yet.

KU has added three players from the portal thus far. They are: Dickinson (Michigan), Nicolas Timberlake (Towson) and Arterio Morris (Texas).

KU is recruiting McDonald’s All-American Mackenzie Mgbako, a 6-8, 210 freshman-to-be forward who earlier was committed to Duke but recently asked out of his letter-of-intent.

Of the portal leading to a lot of roster turnover throughout college basketball, Philachack said: “I am shocked. The old days of the Ochai’s (Agbaji) and J-Will’s (Jalen Wilson), four years of keeping a player are done. This is a new era. You will get new players every year. Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Villanova will get the best every year. My opinion is mid-major schools will be a G League for the high majors.”

Of the portal, Self told the Star Friday: “The portal and NIL have created an environment that certainly is new to our sport and one that is still being figured out. We feel blessed to have had these guys who sacrificed and tried their best here. We wish them all the best and are excited about the future, and excited about our new guys coming in.”

Self issued an additional comment about his program’s activity in the portal.

“Zuby … what is he the seventh since the end of our season to enter the portal and last year we had zero enter?” Self said. “All the reasons could be similar. There could be different reasons as well. We appreciate all the kids’ efforts to make this place a better place in their period of time here. We hate to see them all leave. We wish them the best and think our fan base should (wish them best).”

Ejiofor — he did not start playing basketball until eighth grade — averaged 21.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.9 blocked shots and 1.9 steals per game for Garland High in 2021-22. He averaged 21.0 points and 13.0 rebounds for Garland as a junior in 2020-21. He arrived at KU ranked No. 44 in the class of 2022 by Rivals.com.

Before speaking to The Star, Philachack had made some posts about the portal on Twitter:

On Friday he tweeted: “The Ochai, the Doke and the Jalen Wilson days (are) over for college basketball. We are going to see new faces every year. It’s sad but that’s the reality!”

And he tweeted on April 30: “The transfer portal has ruin(ed) college basketball. Why would any power 5 school want to waste time developing kids when they can just reload with Seniors and super senior every year.”