Latest news with #RedStorm
Fox Sports
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
St. John's Coach Rick Pitino On NIL, Transfer Portal: 'Complaining is of No Value'
Rick Pitino took St. John's from being a team that was nowhere to be found in the NCAA Tournament conversation to a No. 2 seed in just two seasons. How did Pitino get the Red Storm to rise to prominence so quickly? Living in the reality of NIL and the transfer portal, rather than fighting it. "I felt the change was here and quitting, resigning, complaining is of no value," Pitino said about NIL on Wednesday's edition of "The Herd." "You have to win the day. You have to get the job done, and I just felt that 'Okay, we're going to use it to the best of our abilities at St. John's.' "So, we're an urban school; we're a computer school; we play in Madison Square Garden as our home court: How can we maximize our potential by embracing the NIL and the transfer portal? We went away from high school basketball players, although we have taken one or two to develop, but by and large we've gone after older players." Pitino also expressed that parents have never been more involved in the recruiting process than now. On the basketball front, Pitino explained what his practices look like. "We have player development sessions every morning, Monday through Friday, where we go three-to-four different sessions with four players, and we try to take players like a Donovan Mitchell, a Terry Rozier who maybe's not ranked top-20 or 25 in high school, and they've got a little bit of a weakness. Donovan Mitchell had a weakness with the arc on his jump shot. Everybody's got a weakness coming out that's not top 10, so we try to take those player development sessions and make the players better," Pitino said. "Our practices, yes, are very difficult, but I will say this: They're not long. We don't go more than two hours, but we go hard for two hours. We're up and down for two hours. If I make a comment or a correction, it's going to be within 12 seconds, and then we're moving on because conditioning is a gigantic part of our style of play." After going 20-13 in the 2023-24 season, Pitino and the Red Storm put together a 31-5 campaign highlighted by winning the Big East regular-season title with an 18-2 conference record, winning the Big East Tournament and claiming a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While St. John's was upset in the second round by No. 10 seed Arkansas, the 2024-25 season marked the first time in six years that the program had made the NCAA Tournament and the first time in 10 years that it had done so without having to play in the First Four round. On the personal front, Pitino won the 2024-25 Naismith, AP and Big East Coach of the Year awards. St. John's is Pitino's sixth full-time men's college basketball head-coaching gig, with the Hall of Famer previously coaching three seasons at Iona before leaving for Queens in March 2023. St. John's had a gargantuan transfer portal class this offseason, reeling in former five-star recruits and now sophomores Ian Jackson (previously of North Carolina) and Joson Sanon (previously of Arizona State), former Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, former Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell and former Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers, among others. 247Sports ranks St. John's transfer class as the best in men's college basketball. While the Red Storm have minimal returning players, they have big man and 2024-25 All-Big East honoree Zuby Ejiofor back for his senior season. Next season, St. John's will square off against SEC powerhouses Alabama and Kentucky, among other notable out-of-conference matchups. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience College Basketball Big East St. John's Red Storm recommended Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
New York Post
08-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
St. John's gets verbal commitment from Swedish guard Casper Pohto
Access the St. John's beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Zach Braziller about the inside buzz on St. John's. TRY IT NOW Rick Pitino and St. John's continued to add to next year's already formidable roster on Saturday. The Red Storm landed a verbal commitment from Swedish guard Casper Pohto, he told The Post. The 6-foot-4 combo guard came to America at the age of 16 and spent this past season playing for Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. He also played in high school at local powerhouse St. Benedict's Prep in Newark.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rick Pitino shuts down Knicks coaching job speculation: ‘Absolutely not'
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino made it clear he has no interest in returning to the NBA sidelines to coach the New York Knicks. 'Absolutely not,' Pitino said during Wednesday's Yankees-Guardians broadcast when asked about the Knicks' coaching vacancy. 'I think whoever comes in, if he doesn't get to the finals, it's going to be deemed an unsuccessful season,' said Pitino, who is a native of New York City. 'So, whoever comes in has got so much pressure on them to take this team to the next level.' Advertisement The Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday, just days after the team's first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years. Thibodeau posted a 226-174 record over five seasons, including a 51-31 mark this year. He went 24-23 in the playoffs with New York. Pitino, 72, previously led the Knicks from 1987 to 1989, compiling a 90-74 record and making two playoff appearances. He just capped a stellar season at St. John's, guiding the Red Storm to a 31-5 record, their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019, and their first Big East title since 2000. He also earned both national and Big East Coach of the Year honors. Though his name surfaced in speculation, Pitino was never considered a serious candidate for the Knicks job. His focus remains on St. John's, which is expected to be a Big East favorite and likely begin the 2025-26 season ranked in the top five nationally.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rick Pitino, St. John's Receive Head-Turning 2025-26 Prediction
The St. John's Red Storm and head coach Rick Pitino made waves during the 2024-25 college basketball season. Looking ahead to the future, St. John's appears to be a team to watch as a potential national championship contender. Last season, Pitino led the Red Storm to an impressive 31-5 record. He took them on a run to the NCAA Tournament. Advertisement As a No. 2 seed in the tournament, St. John's started off with a first round win over Omaha. Following the big win, Pitino and company came up short against John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks. That loss ended their season. Looking ahead to the 2025-26 college basketball season, the Red Storm are receiving a lot of hype. A new ranking has been released that shows the hype clearly. In a column on FanDuel, Jon Rothstein reveled his early rankings. He has Pitino's team coming in at No. 3 on the list. Pitino did have some key losses throughout the offseason. RJ Luis was the biggest loss, while other players left as well. Those other players are Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith, Aaron Scott, and Simeon Wilcher. Advertisement To replace the talent that left the program, St. John's brought in players as well. Joson Sanon, Bryce Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers, Ian Jackson, Dillon Mitchell, Imran Suljanovic, Dylan Darling, Handje Tamba, and Kelvin Odih have all joined the team and will look to take the Red Storm to the next level. St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick PitinoEric Canha-Imagn Images With Pitino leading the way, St. John's will always have a chance. He is a living legend in the college basketball world. Throughout his career leading up to this point, Pitino has compiled a 761-308 record. Despite going through some major issues off the court, Pitino has landed on his feet and is building something very special. Related: Rick Pitino's Son Makes Head-Turning Admission About Father's Legendary Coaching Career Related: NBA Exec Turns Heads With Major Prediction for Duke's Kon Knueppel
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rick Pitino's Son Makes Head-Turning Admission About Father's Legendary Coaching Career
Rick Pitino and the St. John's Red Storm put together an impressive all-around 2024-25 college basketball season. However, it did not end how they had hoped. Throughout the course of the year, St. John's compiled a 31-5 record. In the NCAA Tournament, they earned a No. 2 seed and knocked off Omaha in the first round by a final score of 83-53. Advertisement After that win, a matchup with John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks awaited, which the Red Storm lost 75-66. That loss ended the St. John's season. Despite the loss, Pitino has the Red Storm on the right track. He is one of the best head coaches of all-time and will give St. John's a chance to win at a high level as long as he's in town. St. John's Red Storm head basketball coach Rick Pitino.© Brad Penner-Imagn Images Recently, Richard Pitino, the son of the coaching legend, spoke out about his father. He opened up about the success that Pitino has had throughout his career and the coaching tree that he has created. 'He puts the effort into molding us,' Richard said. 'Some coaches just hire assistant coaches and say, 'Hey, get me players. You're not a coach, you're a recruiter.' My dad is not that way. Anybody that works for my dad and his program, you are gonna be driven to succeed just as much as the best player. He's gonna be invested in you as a future leader.' Among coaches who have come from Pitino's coaching tree are Billy Donovan, Tubby Smith, Mick Cronin, and Kevin Keatts. Advertisement To this point in his career, Pitino has amassed a 761-308 record. That is good enough for a 71.2% win rate. During the upcoming 2025-26 college basketball season, the two Pitino's will likely face each other. St. John's and Xavier are both in the Big East. Richard Pitino became the head coach of the Musketeers this offseason. Related: Duke's Kon Knueppel Receives Major Prediction Before NBA Draft Related: Dan Hurley's Latest Recruiting Move Has UConn Fans Buzzing
