Something pissed Rick Pitino off and now St. John's has banned postgame handshakes

Mark Pope and Rick Pitino talk on the sideline at Kroger Field - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Did you know there was a handshake line controversy in sports? Rick Pitino believes there is and says enough is enough.

After ‘witnessing multiple problems,’ he says, St. John’s basketball is killing the tradition of shaking hands after games once and for all. Instead, coaches and players will simply grab their belongings and get the hell out of there to begin postgame duties. Don’t you dare think about congratulating a team for their win or wishing them luck the rest of the season after handing over a loss — you will get to the locker room and you will like it.

“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 said abruptly and without context.

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

I’ll be honest, I’ve scoured the web for hours trying to figure out what got Coach P fired up on Thursday. As far as I can tell, there wasn’t anything specific that popped off in the last day or two. No fights or arguments between teams. We had a brawl following Texas A&M Commerce’s overtime win vs. Incarnate Word last February, so maybe Zach Calzada’s commitment to UK Football sent Pitino down a weird rabbit hole and he said enough was enough. And we all remember Juwan Howard’s suspension for slapping a Wisconsin assistant in the handshake line a couple of years ago. I’d like to think, though, Pitino saw tempers flare watching random EuroCup film to get his Thursday rolling and put his foot down.

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Maybe he’s just a big germaphobe and needed an excuse for strangers to stop touching him during basketball games?

One way or another, Pitino is banning postgame handshakes whether you like it or not. I don’t know why, but that’s for St. John’s fans to figure out. I’ll just enjoy the controversy I didn’t know existed when I woke up this morning.