On the eve of their conference quarterfinal, St. John’s picked up major awards, with Rick Pitino winning Big East Coach of the Year and guard RJ Luis winning Big East Player of the Year.
In just his second season with St. John’s, the legendary Pitino has helped the Queens school reach heights it had not seen in four decades.
Leading the Red Storm to a 27-4 regular-season record and 18-2 Big East record, Pitino helped secure the program’s first conference regular-season title in 40 years and matched a program record for most regular-season wins. St. John’s also went an undefeated 18-0 at home for the first time since 1931-32. Their four losses by a combined seven points were the fewest by an NCAA program since 1950.
It earned them their highest national ranking (No. 6) since the 1990-91 season.
Pitino is the second coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history (Dana Altman) to win a coach of the year award with four different schools and in four different conferences, doing so with Kentucky (1991, 1996), Louisville (2005), and Iona (2022-23).
Luis was one of the centerpieces of Pitino’s historic team at St. John’s this season. The junior led his team with 18.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and was a unanimous All-Big East First-Team selection.
He is the first Johnny to average more than 18 points and seven rebounds per game in a single season since Zendon Hamilton in 1995-96, and he is the third player in school history to win the conference’s Player of the Year honor, joining Chris Mullin (1983, 1984, 1985) and Walter Berry (1986).
