Rick Pitino’s benching of RJ Luis Jr. was not about teaching the St. John’s star a lesson.
Luis did not play the final 4:56 of the Red Storm’s NCAA Tournament loss to Arkansas because it was the “right move for the team and for us winning,” Pitino said on Thursday’s series finale of VICE TV’s “Pitino: Red Storm Rising” docu-series.
“It was the right move because of where he was mentally,” Pitino said, adding, “He was forcing shots, and it was affecting the rest of his game.”
Luis, the Big East Player of the Year, shot just 3-of-17, including 0-of-3 on 3-point attempts, in the second-seeded Red Storm’s 75-66 loss to 10th-seeded Arkansas in the second round of the tournament.
Pitino previously declined to elaborate on the benching, saying during his postgame press conference that he was “not going to knock one” of his players.
“[Luis] was not only getting down about his game, he wasn’t playing the defense we needed,” Pitino told VICE. “He wasn’t playing the transition defense we needed. He wasn’t blocking out. All the missed shots and the forced shots were affecting him.”
Luis, a junior guard, averaged a team-high 18.2 points this season but finished with only nine points in 30 minutes against Arkansas.
St. John’s trailed by two points when Pitino pulled Luis for good in favor of freshman forward Ruben Prey.
“It was very difficult,” Luis, 22, said on the VICE episode. “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.”
The upset loss brought a sudden end to a storybook season in which St. John’s (31-5) won its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 and its first Big East Tournament title since 2000.
It also marked the end of Luis’ St. John’s career.
Last weekend, Luis declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal. He has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining.
“He will not be back with us,” Pitino told VICE.
“I personally think it would be a mistake for him to come back to any school. I think he should try to make it in the NBA.”
ESPN ranks Luis as its No. 72 draft prospect. This year’s draft has 59 picks.
“As an athlete, you want to compete at the highest level,” Luis said.
Pitino has already been busy building next season’s roster. He landed well-regarded transfers Joson Sanon, who shot 36.9% on 3-pointers as a freshman with Arizona State, and Bryce Hopkins, who made the 2022-23 All-Big East first team with Providence before knee injuries derailed his last two seasons.
In announcing the addition of Hopkins, Pitino lauded the 6-7 forward as a “great replacement” for Luis.
Pitino told VICE he expects to have “seven or eight guys coming back.” Among them is power forward Zuby Ejiofor, who made the All-Big East first team and was the conference’s Most Improved Player.
Pitino, who is entering his third year at St. John’s, also specifically named Prey; guards Simeon Wilcher, Lefteris Liotopoulos and Jaiden Glover; and center Vince Iwuchukwu.
St. John’s is losing senior guards Kadary Richmond, Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith, while forward Brady Dunlap entered the transfer portal this week.
