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| Rick Pitino receiving the Big East Coach of the Year Award from Commissioner Val Ackerman on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Jason Schott. |
On Wednesday, ahead of the tip-off of the Big East Tournament, St. John’s received honors befitting a season in which they won their first regular season conference title in 40 years.
Rick Pitino was named Big East Coach of the Year and RJ Luis Jr. was named Player of the Year.
In his second season at the helm, Pitino led the Red Storm to an 18-2 conference record and 27-4 overall. They are ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, and No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
Pitino has earned 13 conference titles in his 37 seasons as a Division I Head Coach. He is the first coach to lead five different schools to a regular season championship - Boston University, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona, St. John’s - with four of those coming in his second year at the helm.
Prior to this, St. John's had won the Big East Regular Season title five times, all with Lou Carnesecca at the helm, in 1980, '83, '85, '86, and '92. The 1985 one was the only outright title until this one.
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| Rick Pitino. Photo by Jason Schott. |
“It’s been an awesome regular season, capped off by such a nice award, especially with the Big East,”Pitino said at the ceremony at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve coached against Looie (Carnesecca,) Rollie (Massimino), Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, John Thompson, and then when the Big East expanded, even added to those great coaches, so when someone says, ‘you won some National Coaches (of the Year), but never Big East’ - Big East has had the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball, so it’s a special award for me to be amongst some of those greats who’ve and I’m thankful to my peers for voting me in.”
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| RJ Luis Jr. speaking after winning Big East Player the Year. Photo by Jason Schott. |
Luis Jr. is the first St. John’s player to win the award since Walter Berry in 1986. He averaged 18.1 points on 44.6 percent shooting from the field, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He and fellow First Team selection Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton were the only two players in the Big East to rank in the top six in scoring and rebounding.
In the final three games of the regular season, in which Luis Jr. led them in scoring in each one, he averaged 24.3 points per game. Luis Jr. led St. John's with 28 points (10-19 FG, 3-7 three-pointers), with 11 rebounds, six offensive, for a double-double in their 86-84 overtime win at Marquette on Saturday. Before that, on Saturday, March 1, against Seton Hall, he had 21 points (7-13 FG, 2-4 on threes), with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. On February 26, he had 24 points on 9-16 shooting, including 3-6 from behind the arc, with four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in a win at Butler.
