St. John’s basketball trusted the shooting touch of RJ Luis Jr. not long ago. Luis Jr. delivered an explosive late scoring charge to seal the Big East title, even breaking a mark held by Chris Mullin. But Rick Pitino stunningly didn’t turn to Luis against Arkansas late in their Saturday March Madness contest.
That’s because the two-time national champion winning head coach benched his shooter.
St. John’s struggled shooting and hitting baskets inside the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. The Razorbacks prevailed 75-66 to knock off the No. 2 seed in the West regional. The game started with hype directed toward legendary coaches Pitino and John Calipari meeting again. The game ended with Luis sitting with the Red Storm down 70-64 with under a minute left.
But Calipari once again out-coaching Pitino wasn’t the only popular discussion postgame. Fans sounded off on social media criticizing Pitino for sitting one of his top scorers.
Fans drop strong takes for RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s and Rick Pitino
FanDuel Sportsbook rose as one of the reactions for Luis’ mysterious benching. And asked the burning question.
“Should he hit the transfer portal?” the account asked on X.
ESPN college basketball analyst and former Duke star Jason “Jay” Williams reacted to the move as well.
“Rick Pitino making it known — if you aren’t playing his way, you aren’t playing = RJ Luis sitting the last two minutes of the game is WILD,” Williams posted on his X account.
Radio host Scott Reichel chimed in as well. He called the benching “a wild move” made by Pitino. However, some fans came to the defense of Pitino in making the polarizing move.
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