RJ Luis had never met St. John’s basketball legend Walter Berry, but he was looking forward to the opportunity of chatting with the last Red Storm Big East Player of the Year after he was given the distinction on Wednesday afternoon.
That meeting has now been accomplished for Luis as Berry waited to greet him in the St. John’s locker room following its 79-63 victory over Marquette in the Big East Tournament Semifinals as he finished interviews with the media.
“I’m very happy,” Berry said about Luis being St. John’s first Big East Player of the Year since he won the award in 1986.
“We’ve been waiting for the next one and [RJ Luis], he deserves it.”
Luis didn’t have his best showing against the Golden Eagles, finishing with 13 points on just 4-of-18 shooting but Berry saw him in action on Thursday too when he went for 20 points in the quarterfinal victory over Butler.
“Keep up the good work,” Berry told Luis as they embraced. “Tomorrow, get it man. I want y’all to have this.”
Walter Berry described it as “frustrating” that St. John’s had not won a Big East Player of the Year for nearly four decades.
The two plan to continue their conversation in the future, perhaps as soon as Saturday night if confetti is raining down on the Johnnies, but Berry already sees a bright future for Luis.
“He got a pro game. He’s going to the NBA,” the former first round draft pick explained. “He’s just got to take his time a little bit more. He’s going to be a pro.”
St. John’s will face Creighton in the Big East Tournament Championship on Saturday night (6:30 p.m. ET, FOX) after the Bluejays defeated UConn in the semifinals. The Johnnies split its regular season meetings with the Midwest program.
“Rick Pitino got them playing great. This is the year for them,” Walter Berry said.