St. John's men's basketball guard RJ Luis was hurt when his head coach, Rick Pitino, benched him during the Red Storm's second-round loss to Arkansas in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Luis, the Big East Player of the Year, averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season as he guided St. John's to its first conference championship since 2000. He scored only nine points against the Razorbacks, however, shooting a woeful 3-17 from the field.

Luis appeared on the Stephen A. Smith Show on Monday where he set the record straight on how he feels about watching his team get upset while on the bench.

“I was just hurt,” he said of Pitino's decision. “It wasn’t my best performance but I think [Pitino] coulda done a better job picking my head up and just doing a better job coaching me up, like how he’s done the whole year…It hurts, obviously the way I played and the way we went out in the tournament. I’m gonna take that with me forever.”

Pitino defended the decision after the game, citing the St. John's basketball star star's shooting performance in the 75-66 loss.

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“You know he was 3-for-17. You know he was 0-for-3 [from 3]. So, you're answering our own [question],” he said. “I'm not going to knock one of my players.”

Luis is currently in the transfer portal and testing the waters in the 2025 NBA Draft process. He told Smith that Pitino benching him was not the reason for his decision.

“That’s not the reason. I feel like the season I had, I feel like my stock won’t be any higher than it is,” he said. “Thanks to my coaches and my teammates, they’ve been able to put me in a position to take the next step in my journey and obviously that’s to play in the NBA.”

Pitino expressed his support for Luis to the New York Post's Zach Braziller.

“We would not have that season we had without RJ, but I do think RJ should try and make the NBA,” he said. “He's reached his potential with us. Now I think the NBA is his calling and we're rooting for him to make the NBA.”