By STEVE MEGARGEE
RJ Luis Jr. is the Associated Press Big East player of the year and Rick Pitino is the unanimous choice for coach of the year after both helped St. John’s win its first outright conference title since 1985.
UConn freshman Liam McNeeley was selected as Big East newcomer of the year.
Luis came back from offseason surgery to his shins and has averaged 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the sixth-ranked Red Storm, who enter this week’s Big East Tournament on a six-game winning streak. Pitino has St. John’s (27-4) headed for its first NCAA Tournament since 2019 in his second year on the job.
Luis received six votes for player of the year from the 13-member voting panel of media members to edge Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner by a single vote. Villanova forward Eric Dixon received the other two votes.
“I’ve got to thank my teammates and coaches,” Luis said Saturday about the possibility of getting named player of the year. “They do a great job of putting me in position to be successful, especially Kadary (Richmond). He knows I’m a scorer, so he does a great job of finding me the ball. I think it would be a blessing to receive the award. It would be an honor.”
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