When a junior isn’t planning to return to high school, generally that participant is a part of Senior Day actions.
However RJ Luis Jr. doesn’t match into that class.
The gifted junior and Large East Participant of the 12 months candidate is not going to be a part of seniors Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith and Aaron Scott in being honored earlier than Saturday’s residence finale in opposition to Seton Corridor.
“There is a possibility that RJ is going to come back, so he’ll test the waters, and if he’s a first-rounder or [gets] a guaranteed contract, he should go,” coach Rick Pitino mentioned on Friday. “If he’s not, he should think about staying. Obviously, I hope he stays, but I also hope he goes, because we think he’s a pro, we think he’ll do great at the NBA level.”
Luis mentioned he by no means thought-about collaborating in Senior Day.
His focus is on clinching a Large East common season crown in opposition to Seton Corridor.
“Let’s win this game on Saturday,” he mentioned.
Luis beforehand mentioned he was protecting an open thoughts about his future.
The 6-foot-7 wing, in the meantime, might be on the cusp of a serious award.
He’s a contender for Large East Participant of the 12 months, together with Richmond and Creighton middle Ryan Kalkbrenner.
The final St. John’s participant to win the award was Walter Berry in 1986.
In convention play, Luis is fourth within the league in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (7.8), eleventh in free throw proportion (73.6) and twelfth in area aim proportion (42.5).
Large East coaches vote on the award, which is introduced on the primary day of the convention event.
Scott is coping with a hamstring damage and didn’t apply on Friday.
He suffered the damage late in Wednesday’s win over Butler.
Scott did return to the sport and completed with eight factors, six rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes.
He’ll check the hamstring on Saturday in warmups.
St. John’s will likely be having a “white out” for the sport. The varsity will likely be distributing 10,000 white T-shirts to followers within the Backyard’s decrease bowl.
Senior Day actions are set to start at 1:54 p.m. for the two:15 p.m. tipoff. Pitino wore a white go well with for final yr’s “white out” recreation in opposition to Creighton, however he’s unsure if he’ll put on it once more on Saturday.
