St. John's star RJ Luis Jr. celebrating a make resulting in a technical foul Photo Credit: Fox
College BasketballFoxBy Reice Shipley on

In Saturday’s Big East Championship Game against Creighton, St. John’s star RJ Luis Jr. stole the show with one of the best performances of his career on the biggest stage he has ever played on. But unfortunately, he was also involved in a bit of controversy that both Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson, who were on the call of the game, thought was a bit overblown.

With 8:42 left in the second half, Luis Jr. hit a three-point shot to extend St. John’s lead to four points. But just moments later, he was issued a technical foul for a gesture he made with his hands as he celebrated getting back on defense.

Initially, Johnson and Jackson didn’t realize what had been called. But after quickly looking back at the play, both believed that the call was a bit of an overreaction.

“Ah, he got a tech right there for what he did,” said Jackson.

“What did he do?” replied Johnson.

“When he came down and gave the signal after he made the three-point shot,” added Jackson.

What the refs seemingly saw was Luis Jr. making what they believed to be a gun signal with his hands. Johnson and Jackson saw things differently, outlining how that exact same celebration is done by NBA players all the time.

“The kids watch the NBA guys. The Knicks, Jalen Brunson does that after he hits every three,” said Johnson.

“That’s why, it’s a gun sign,” replied Jackson.

“That’s not a gun, that’s a three,” said Johnson.

“I know, the kids do it a different way,” added Jackson. “I just… I don’t like it. If he is actually parading and doing something, yes. But the signal itself, that’s the three thing.”

It’s incredibly difficult to distinguish the difference between a gun sign and holding up three fingers the way that Luis Jr. did here. But as Johnson alluded to, why not issue Luis Jr. and the St. John’s bench a warning when something like this happens instead of immediately jumping to a technical foul?

To issue a technical foul down the stretch of a competitive game with as much at stake as there was for both teams is obviously a bit premature in the eyes of both Johnson and Jackson. And, understandably, viewers largely concurred, ripping the officials for the call.

Fortunately, the call didn’t cost St. John’s all that much, as they would go on to win the game 82-66 en route to their first Big East Championship since 2000. But obviously, the questionable call very much would have been a talking point had St. John’s gone on to lose the game.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley