As the NCAA men's basketball tournament kicks off on Thursday, one of the most surprising contenders for the national title is led by a coach whose resurgence seemed unlikely just a few years ago. Rick Pitino, now 72, is back in the spotlight with No. 2 seed St. John’s (30-4), eight years after scandals ended his time at a top program and led him to work overseas.
Pitino has now guided a record six different colleges to the tournament. He previously made history by winning national championships with two schools and reaching the Final Four with three. Despite being in the twilight of his career, when many of his peers have retired, Pitino took an unconventional path back to college basketball. He has adapted to significant changes in the college system, such as players profiting from their name, image, and likeness, and the transfer portal, thriving in the process.
During an appearance on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, Pitino expressed his views on redemption, saying, “I really don’t believe in the word ‘redemption’ because those who judge you really don’t know the facts.”
After St. John’s clinched its first Big East tournament title in 25 years at Madison Square Garden, star player RJ Luis credited Pitino for the team’s success, calling him “the mastermind behind all of this.”
This scene was hard to imagine in 2017 when Pitino was dismissed from the University of Louisville following an FBI probe that accused the school of arranging payments for a recruit’s family. Despite maintaining his innocence, Pitino acknowledged he deserved to be fired as the leader. In 2022, an independent review concluded with minor penalties for Louisville and none for Pitino.
After Louisville was forced to vacate its 2013 national championship due to another scandal, Pitino found himself largely unwanted in the coaching world. Yet, he couldn’t stay away from the game. In 2018, he moved to Athens to coach in Europe’s top league. Two years later, he returned to New York to coach Iona, a small college compared to his previous positions.
Pitino initially claimed Iona would be his last job, doubting anyone would hire a 70-year-old. However, his success there made him an attractive candidate for St. John’s, a once-great program that had lost its luster. With a career winning percentage of .713, Pitino has been successful since his first head coaching role at Hawaii in 1976. His 37 seasons as a head coach rank him third among active Division I coaches, and his 761 career victories place him sixth, numbers that would be higher if not for his NBA stints and vacated wins due to NCAA penalties.
The question was whether Pitino’s approach would still be effective in a major college basketball conference. St. John’s took a chance on a coach whose competitive edge remained sharp. Last season, after a disappointing 20-13 campaign, Pitino criticized his players' toughness. This winter, he delivered a fiery locker-room speech, questioning his players’ mental resilience, which seemed to draw from his own challenging journey.
St. John’s responded by winning that game and 19 of its next 21, finishing 18-2 in conference play. A significant boost came in February when a billionaire alumnus pledged financial support for the team’s name, image, and likeness initiatives.
When Pitino joined St. John’s in 2023, he promised a return to prominence. Two years later, after securing the Big East tournament title and achieving only the fourth 30-win season in the program’s history, Pitino celebrated his fulfillment of that promise.
“I said it at the press conference, we would be back,” Pitino told a reporter. “I didn’t lie to you, did I?”