With the St. John’s 71-61 win over Seton Hall on Saturday, the Red Storm clinched their first outright Big East Conference regular season title win, and their first under head coach Rick Pitino.
Following St. John’s Big East title-clinching win, Rick Pitino spoke with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on how this moment came to be.
“We’re gonna celebrate, obviously, but I want to give Seton Hall credit. That’s a well-coached team and those players play really hard,” Pitino said. “I’m proud of our guys. They didn’t play great, but they didn’t play great because of Seton Hall’s defense.”
The last time the Red Storm clinched a Big East season title outright was in 1985. St. John’s advanced to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament that year. The Red Storm have one regular season game remaining against Marquette next weekend before the Big East Tournament.
It’s been a tremendous turnaround for St. John’s since Pitino took over as head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. In only two seasons, he has built a potential NCAA championship contender. The Red Storm have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
“I think you build a will to win,” Pitino said. “You understand that when you lose, nobody goes to bed with a good mind.”
Last season, St. John’s finished 20-13 overall, and 11-9 in Big East Conference play. This season, the Red Storm have a 17-2 conference record, and are 26-4 overall.
Not only has it been a rise back to prominence for a college basketball program with a storied history, but it’s been a redemption arc for Pitino as well. He was dismissed as head coach at Louisville following off the court scandals and allegations of paying players under the table. It resulted in Louisville’s 2013 national championship being vacated among other sanctions.
Pitino was absent from college basketball for three years before resurfacing as the head coach at Iona in 2020. He coached Iona from 2020-2023, compiling a record of 64-22 in his return to the NCAA. His tenure with the Gaels resulted in two NCAA Tournament appearances, one NIT appearance, two MAAC Tournament championships and two MAAC regular season titles.
The post Rick Pitino reacts to 1st Big East title since 1985 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
