First, Maria Lewis began to break. I watched my son walk to the stage to accept his Big East Player of the Year award.
RJ Luis Jr. followed her lead. He couldn't help himself as much as he tried.
Tears began to flow.
“I told my mother before going up to give a speech, “Don't cry, I'll start crying if I cry.” “Obviously, this is very emotional for us, not just for us, but for the whole family.”
It was a memorable moment for St. John's Jr. and his family.
Not only was his parents Maria Lewis and Reggie Lewis Charles attended, but so were his sisters, Riley and Rachel.
He went from an unknown three-star recruit at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami to a promising freshman in Massachusetts to one of the nation's best wings as a junior.
His sophomore at St. John's was inconsistent, but mainly due to the splints on each leg that required surgery last April.
On Wednesday, he became Johnny for the first time in 39 years since Walterbury in 1986, earning the league's most prestigious honor.
“If I told you [I thought this was going to happen]I would lie to myself. My main focus was trying to get back to myself and be healthy,” Lewis said. “It shows that you can succeed in anything with your determination and success. You have to give your teammates credit. Without them, I can't imagine winning this award because of how good we all had a season.”
It was 22 months ago that Lewis had to make a difficult decision after he entered the transfer portal. He had a choice. He visited Louisville and Texas A&M with St. John's. Alabama was interested.
Queen's School stood out for very specific reasons: Rick Pitino.
Charles was close to former Louisville star Francisco Garcia. He raved about the Hall of Fame coach.
“His dad saw what we did at Francisco and they were huge fans of that Louisville team,” Pitino said. “It was a perfect match. He wants to be great, so it's very easy to coach.”
Pitino was also named Big East Coach of the Year after leading the sixth-ranked Red Storm to his first full season title since 1985.
Surprisingly, he is the first time he has won the honors in 12 seasons as a big East coach at Providence, Louisville and St. John's.
The award went on to have a big week for Johnny.
Check out the latest Big East rankings and cents. John's statistics
On Sunday, Lewis and forward Zuby Ejiofor were selected for the All-Big East First Team. A day later, Ejiofor was named the most improved player in the meeting.
Close friends, Lewis and Ejofor are the latest success stories of Pitino's development, ranging from role players a year ago to stars this season.
“Coach Pitino does an incredible job of pushing us towards our limits,” Ejofor said. “The level of player development sessions, practices, and competitiveness is always there every day. We can only get better.”
From the time Lewis arrived in Queens, Pitino raved about his potential.
Lewis suffered from a broken left hand during the preseason and fought severe shin splints all year round.
He rarely practiced or attended Pitino's famous skills development sessions.
He underwent a matching surgery to repair the problem.
Lewis doubted he would regain his athletic ability.
A month after the surgery, he had a hard time walking himself. The pain is severe.
Gradually, the discomfort eased, and he began practicing again in August.
“Crying to the doctor [Martin] O'Malley, he gave me a new foot,” Lewis said.
Lewis returned another player this winter – a more explosive, more disciplined, dynamic, two-way force.
He placed fourth in the Big East in scoring (18.1), sixth in rebounds (7.1) and fourth in the regular season with 10th in field goal percentage (44.6).
Recently, he has significantly improved his 3-point shooting, reaching a clip of 36.7% since January 11th.
Most importantly, he, alongside Cadalie Richmond, directly influenced Johnny's victory as one of the closers.
“As Director Pitino says, if you play with the name on the front, the name on the back will flourish,” Lewis said, “And I'm just an example.”
