Rick Pitino Is Banning Post Game Handshakes Because Why Not

Rick Pitino has had enough of sportsmanship.

Apparently, something ticked off the legendary coach so much that he decided to tweet out that he was banning the postgame handshake line for him and his St. John's men's basketball team effective IMMEDIATELY.

ST. JOHN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL WILL NO LONGER SHAKE HANDS

"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," Pitino randomly tweeted out without giving any context yesterday. 

Really, though. I looked for any examples of any sort of skirmish or drama that happened with St. John's basketball team this year and couldn't find anything, it appears that Pitino is just somehow mad at the whole idea of the postgame handshake. Maybe he came across Juwan Howard on his television and had a flashback to a few years ago when the Michigan head coach slapped one of the Wisconsin assistant coaches after the game. Or maybe he saw a highlight of Michigan planting the flag on the Ohio State 50-yard-line and didn't like it either. We have no idea, because that's how random it was for Pitino to randomly tweet out on a Thursday morning and announce SJU's handshake ban. 

As you can imagine, many on social media thought that Rick Pitino should be referred to as Dick Pitino, and that he was setting a poor example for his students and the game. Taking away the postgame handshake?! *Gasps* How could he! What about the children?!

"Be a shining light. Don't put the candle out… lead the way [for the players," one person tweeted. "If a team cannot maintain composure in a handshake line how do you expect them to maintain composure in the heat of battle?" another person wrote.

Yes, all fair and accurate points, but Pitino will be damned if he's going to give in on this one. And to be honest, I'm part of the mindset that if a college player doesn't understand sportsmanship by now, then they are a lost cause to begin with. If they can't rise above losing and use it as a motivating factor like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan did, then they probably aren't mentally tough enough to truly excel in the sport to begin with.

It's 2024 and soon to be 2025. Let it all burn down and let the strongest make it in the end.

Now if the NCAA made a clause that said NIL deals would only be fulfilled if a player exemplified top-tier sportsmanship, however, that would definitely have an effect… but let's not get too carried away now. 

Instead, St. John's will just grab their ball and their bag and go home.