– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Soon after Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray” and Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” blared over the public address during the championship ceremony at center court, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino had a “mic drop” moment when he unintentionally (?) uttered and paraphrased the line to another throwback classic with his answer to the question asking him to sum up how he was won at so many stops in his basketball career.
“We saved the best for last,” the 71-year-old Pitino quipped, to the roar of the St. John’s fans who waited a quarter century for a crowning achievement that finally graced their eyes.
The top-seeded St. John’s Red Storm completed a magical Big East season by capturing the Big East Tournament championship, taking down No. 2 Creighton 82-66 to win their first conference championship since 2000. RJ Juis Jr. added to his Big East Player of the Year award in the regular season by taking home the Dave Gavitt Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, being named for that honor after he scored 27 of his 29 points after halftime while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Kadary Richmond also had a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
Both Luis, who came to the program by way of UMass two years ago, and Richmond, who started his career at Syracuse and made his way back to his native New York City after coming over from Seton Hall last season, joined Pitino with the Red Storm in the hope that they would be a part of an basketball resurgence.
What the Red Storm have authored this season so far is a basketball renaissance, one that has the Red Storm dreaming the biggest of dreams as it awaits its destination to begin the NCAA Tournament.
“Great win for the city. Great win for our university,” said Pitino, who is as New York City as they come with his upbringing in Manhattan, Queens and Long Island before his legendary coaching career started. “You hear all along that it’s New York’s team, and it truly is. As a New Yorker myself, I’m very, very proud that St. John’s has gotten to this level.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday’s championship game, with photos taken by ALOST photographers Dale Horton, Scotty Rausenberger and Danny Suriel. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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