College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

5 questions with St. John’s Rick Pitino

Rick Pitino has given St. John’s fans tangible hope. The Red Storm haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000, but the Hall-of-Fame head coach gives St. John’s a puncher’s chance to do so in 2024. I caught up with Pitino on Friday in Queens to discuss his return to power conference basketball, the Big East, and much more.

Jon Rothstein: How refreshing is it to be back in a multi-bid league after what you went through at Iona over the past three years?

Rick Pitino: I absolutely loved Iona. There’s not one single thing that I didn’t like about Iona except for being in a one-bid league. Fortunately for us, we won it two of the three years that I was there. But sometimes you can put in a whole season of work and the ball doesn’t bounce your way one night and you’re out. Now we’re looking at the strongest conference in all of college basketball — the Big East — where possibly seven, eight, or nine teams can get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Rothstein: You’ve assembled a team in your first season at St. John’s that has incredible depth, but may not have a true go-to guy. Is this a team that will possibly go more by committee?

Pitino: I couldn’t even tell you who’s going to start. I would say that Daniss Jenkins is probably the only definite starter. Outside of that, I couldn’t even tell you. We have a bunch of good players and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no great players, but I think if Joel (Soriano) gets in the greatest shape of his life, he has the potential to be a great player. But that remains to be seen.

Rothstein: Who needs to emerge out of this deep crop of players for this team to reach its potential?

Pitino: I think RJ Luis — who’s currently injured — has a lot of talent. Brady (Dunlap) has a lot of talent. I really think Daniss (Jenkins) has greatness in him. I think that Joel (Soriano) has greatness in him. I think that RJ (Luis) has greatness in him and I think that Jordan Dingle does too. He’s just got to not “put himself in a box”, but I think he’s got greatness that lies ahead also.

Rothstein: You won the last Big East Tournament in the old version of Big East in 2013 when you were at Louisville. Are you even surprised 10 years later that this rendition of the Big East has risen to the level that it’s currently at?

Pitino: The Big East could have had three teams in the Final Four last year. I think the thing that I love the most is 25 years ago you would say that college football and college basketball are on the same plane. Now, football is in a completely different stratosphere and basketball is not — with the exception of the Big East. The Big East is a basketball conference. We’re the last ones left and that’s exciting.

Rothstein: 10 years ago at Louisville, you won the national title and got a tattoo. St. John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000 — if you win one in 2024 with this group will you get a tattoo?

Pitino: Definitely not. If we get to a Final Four, I’ll get a tattoo on any part of my anatomy, but not for winning a game in the tournament or even getting to a Sweet 16. But that’s something that we expect to get to some day. I don’t know if it’s this year or when it’s going to happen, but once we build it, it’s here to stay.

Leftovers