The month of March is finally behind St. John’s basketball superstar RJ Luis and maybe now he can breathe after what has been a whirlwind of a two weeks.
Luis has been one of the hottest topics of the NCAA Tournament after he was benched for the final 4:56 in the Red Storm’s Round of 32 loss against Arkansas after shooting 3-for-17 from the field.
The Johnnies trailed by just two points at the time he was removed from the game, but its offense could not make up for his absence, losing 75-66.
“I just came off the best two weeks of my life,” Luis said in the series finale of Pitino: Red Storm Rising, which airs at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday on VICE TV. “We just won the conference championship, just won Player of the Year, had a great first round game, and then second round I couldn’t shoot a ball into the ocean.”
Luis finished with just nine points in the loss, his second single-digit scoring performance of the season since a December 31 loss against Creighton.
“It was very difficult,” he added. “Obviously, nobody wants to play their last game and not play, but as difficult as it was for me, it was probably more difficult for the seniors on the team.”
Rick Pitino stands by his decision to keep the Second Team All-American on the bench for the most important minutes of his team’s season.
“It was 100-percent the right move for the team and for us winning,” he said in the episode. “Believe me, it wasn’t something that 'I’m going to teach this young man a lesson because he was missing shots.' No, he was forcing a lot of moves, they were playing great defense on him, it was the right move. I’m not bothered by that at all.”
“He was not only getting down about his game, he wasn’t playing the defense we needed, he wasn’t playing the transition defense we needed, he wasn’t blocking out, all of the missed shots and the forced shots were affecting him.”
A week after the season ended RJ Luis entered his name in the transfer portal while he tests the waters of the NBA Draft. His preferred option is to become a pro, but whatever his decision is he will not play at St. John’s again.
“RJ was the MVP of the league. He was a great basketball player for us, we wouldn’t have been in this situation without RJ,” Pitino added. “We are deeply appreciative of all his efforts, but that being said, it was the right move because of where he was mentally.”
St. John’s is already deep into its offseason plans with the acquisitions of Arizona State guard Joson Sanon and Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, with more transfer portal additions to come in the next few weeks.
As for St. John’s end of the season saga with Luis, this wraps everything up until he makes a definite decision whether to return to college for his senior year at another school or keep his name in the NBA Draft and become a pro.