College Basketball
Rick Pitino says St. John’s Will Boycott Post-Game Handshake
Vivek Jacob is a freelance sports writer with over seven years experience. During this time, he has written for outlets including The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet, CBC, and Complex. Primarily covering the NBA, Vivek also covers tennis, soccer, and cricket.
All posts by Vivek JacobUpdated2 hours ago on December 19, 2024
What’s in a handshake? Not a whole lot, at least not anymore, according to Rick Pitino.
The St. John’s men’s basketball head coach took to X/Twitter Thursday morning to share that his team will refrain from engaging in the post-game handshake line that has been tradition in college basketball.
“I certainly have great respect for the coaches and teams we play, but after witnessing multiple problems with the postgame handshake line, we will take a page out of the NBA playbook and refrain.”
I certainly have great respect for the coaches and teams we play but after witnessing multiple problems with the postgame handshake line, we will take a page out of the NBA playbook and refrain.
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) December 19, 2024
Putting aside tradition
Both teams in college basketball usually form lines at the end of each game and shake hands as a gesture of sportsmanship. Due to some hostility that has occurred at the end of games for St. John’s, it appears Pitino feels that the gesture is better left avoided.
College basketball isn’t quite the amateur game it used to be, and with the increased stakes, perhaps tensions are higher.
The NBA, while not having the same tradition, does have a norm of players interacting and exchanging pleasantries with those familiar to them at the end of games.
St. John’s plays Providence Friday night, and that’ll be the first chance to see the team put into practice what their coach is preaching.
Pitino staying in the news
The St. John’s head coach is certainly staying relevant on X/Twitter, as this post comes a day after he shared his thoughts on why NBA ratings are down.
“It has been reported that the NBA ratings are down 28% this year alone. Suggestion, bring back hand checking and more physicality. The players are too strong, too quick, and have become amazing shooters.”
It has been reported that the NBA ratings are down 28% this year alone. Suggestion, bring back hand checking and more physicality. The players are too strong, too quick, and have become amazing shooters.
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) December 18, 2024
There has been a lot of discourse of late about the current state of the NBA game, particularly about the amount of three-pointers being shot and star players missing an excessive amount of games.
