St. Johnβs basketball coach Rick Pitino drew a lot of fire last week when he said his team will no longer go through the post-game handshake line with opponents, a college basketball ritual.
βWe will take a page out of the NBA playbook and refrain,β said Pitino.
His declaration came a few days after I watched 19 UA basketball players, six coaches and some staff members dawdle through the post-game handshake line with UCLA. It was slow and seemed forced. There was little eye contact and almost no meaning.
Arizona guard KJ Lewis (5) buries his head into his jersey after the Wildcats 57-54 loss against UCLA at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Dec. 14, 2024.
Does it help civility? I doubt it. Maybe college basketball teams could shake hands before games. It would avoid multiple problems during the upcoming court-stormings that seem unavoidable in Big 12 arenas.
