St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino nearly had another team on the verge of reaching the Final Four, as his Red Storm looked like a strong contender in this year’s East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
However, they ran into the No. 1 overall seed, the Duke Blue Devils, in the Sweet 16, with Cameron Boozer and company eliminating Pitino’s squad in a hard-fought battle. Had St. John’s won that game, they would’ve had a rematch with the UConn Huskies, whom they previously beat for the Big East Tournament championship.
With the season over, Pitino is bidding farewell to one of his best players in Zuby Ejiofor, who will take his talents to the NBA. He’ll also lose forward Bryce Hopkins, guard Dillon Mitchell, and guard Oziyah Sellers, as they all have expiring eligibility.
That said, Pitino has talented players returning to the lineup as he looks to once again try to take over the Big East. However, one also has to wonder how much more coaching the 73-year-old Pitino has left, and he may have recently shed light on that, speaking for the first time since signing a new agreement to remain at St. John’s through the end of the decade.
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Pitino just signed the new deal with St. John’s at the end of last month, which ESPN reported made him the second-highest paid coach in the Big East behind UConn’s Dan Hurley. Speaking to the New York Post, he expressed his thoughts on his future with St. John’s and in college basketball.
“I know I’ll never coach at another place other than St. John’s. I’m going to go as long as I possibly can go, and leave it in the Lord’s hands,” Pitino said, adding, “If I can coach until 80, I would coach until 80.”
That may not be realistic for the Red Storm coach, who set clear expectations on how long he’ll continue coaching in college basketball.
“I’ve got to be able to do what I did this year — the same way, with that type of passion and energy. As long as the energy is there, I’m going to coach as long as I can,” he said.
Pitino’s comments come not long after other coaches spoke about their plans and continuing to coach, including Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, 71, and Kelvin Sampson, 70, who have also been involved with college basketball for quite a while.
In his 50 years of coaching, Pitino has achieved 914 wins in college basketball, and with that new deal securing him as coach, he could reach 1,000 depending on his next several seasons, which would be an impressive milestone for one of the game’s best coaches. Before coming to St. John’s, he coached the Kentucky Wildcats to a championship in 1996 and then the Louisville Cardinals to another in 2013.
He’s yet to achieve one with St. John’s, despite his most recent team being picked among potential Final Four teams by many analysts and experts trying to predict March Madness results.
The good news for Pitino on his quest for more wins and potential championships is that next season features the return of players Dylan Darling, Joson Sanon, and Ruben Prey as key contributors. In addition, Pitino is expected to look to the transfer portal to further boost his Red Storm roster.
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For more about college basketball, visit Newsweek Sports.
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