The Big East Tournament opens today at Madison Square Garden, and St. John’s, the regular season champ, expects to get the conference’s automatic bid to The Big Dance. If so, it will be a coronation of Mr. Rick Pitino. What about me? Count me out! Here’s why.
Under second-year coach Pitino, the Red Storm should be the favorite to win the conference tournament. They have been the best team in the conference and one of the best teams in the country this season. It has been a long time since the Johnnies have been this good, and this year’s team could make a run at a national championship.
Yes, St. John’s is back, indeed, … and it’s about time.
The problem is … Pitino makes it difficult to embrace this program. He is a blowhard, to put it kindly. That said, I campaigned for him to be the St. John’s coach, and lauded him when his tenure began there. He has been worth every penny for his work this season to transform them into a Big East contender, but he is not worth rooting for.
I understood Pitino had baggage in his career, but I did not know how bad it was until I watched him work firsthand with the Red Storm last season.
The Hall of Fame coach started his nonsense by wanting to play Connecticut at the team’s on-campus arena at Carnesecca Arena. He claimed he wanted to honor Lou Carnesecca’s 100th birthday by inviting UConn to play on campus. He was trying to be petty towards UConn and coach Dan Hurley. He knows better since the league would never schedule UConn playing the Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena.
Pitino trolled the Huskies since he had an issue with Hurley’s sideline antics in a game at Hartford last year. It’s hypocritical of St. John’s coach since he behaves like that often, too. He’s the guy who also had a war of words with Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway in the Big East Tournament game last year. He was riding the refs in that game, encouraging them to give St. John’s calls.
Pitino calling out his players after a loss to Seton Hall at UBS Arena last year was a joke. He knew he would have a hard time that season, considering he did not have much time to recruit. The team was transitioning, and the players were not a fit for Pitino’s offense. To humiliate them publicly should have been beneath him.
This offseason, Pitino and his henchman Mike Repole (a St. John’s billionaire booster) used the $4 million to pay players and build this team, including poaching Kadary Richmond from Seton Hall. It’s been money well spent, for sure. But he did not go about it the right way? The Red Storm coach can’t shut up about Seton Hall this season for some reason. He has been taking petty shots at the Pirates for not paying up players despite the fact they don’t have money. He also criticized Holloway for misusing Richmond.
Pitino’s self-serving act has also been a turnoff this season, but St. John’s fans and most local media looked the other way. We all know fans are fans, but this town’s media should know better. The only media member on Pitino’s case is New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick.
One would think Pitino would be humble enough to show class at St. John’s after his Louisville tenure ended severely when he bribed players to play for his program by offering prostitutes. He had the school involved in a fraud and corruption scheme that paid players to play for Louisville. But, to no surprise, Pitino keeps denying it to this day. That’s because this coach doesn’t get it, and he never will.
Instead of concealing his ego and accepting the always-plentiful bouquets, Pitino begs for praise and insults everyone—his opponents, players, and everybody else’s intelligence. Is this the coach the school should be proud of in representing the university? Of course not! But Father Brian Shanley and the administration don’t care. Otherwise, Pitino wouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
Pitino has done his job by recruiting players, winning games, and drawing big crowds at the Garden. He will take a victory lap when the Johnnies presumably win the Big East Tournament this weekend, and he’ll no doubt be the talk of the town during March Madness. Just don’t count me in.
