Some weren’t suprised when St. John’s signed Rick Pitino to a new and amended contract, extending him to 2030 and making him the second highest paid coach in the Big East (Hurley is #1). They weren’t suprised, but here’s why I was.
After all, supporters say, the Red Storm is coming off its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. The program gradually improved under Pitino over the three years he has been at St. John’s, including a tournament appearance last season. So, it should be a no-brainer to say Pitino has been worth the investment.
But my take is the jury is still out. How so? The university didn’t hire Pitino to restore program credibility. He was hired to take the program to the Final Four and win the national championship. In other words, the job isn’t done.
This year, the team was five minutes away from going to the Elite Eight. Instead, SJU blew a 10-point lead and lost to Duke in the Sweet 16. Pitino himself said the Johnnies failed to achieve their objective this season.
Bottom line? Opportunities don’t come often in sports. Teams need to finish the job, and last Friday night, it didn’t happen for the Johnnies. Besides, getting to the Sweet 16 can’t be the goal here. That’s why I believe it’s a joke for the local media to celebrate St. John’s run. For one thing, how many care that St. John’s won back-to-back Big East tournaments?
Courtesy Yardbarker
The larger question is whether Pitino can coach St. John’s to a national championship.
His last Final Four appearance was in 2013, and even then, his Louisville program had to vacate its appearance due to NCAA sanctions. In that case, “sanctions” seems such a lightweight word because it involved a staff member providing strippers and prostitutes to recruits. The “sanction” stripped (appropriate word) the Cardinals of a national championship, and the NCAA vacated all of the Cardinals’ wins from 2011-2012 through 2014-2015.
Think about that for a minute.
Now, Pitino has the luxury of St. John’s bombastic booster Mike Repole, who has millions to pay players. Still, Pitino hasn’t brought a McDonald’s All-American to Queens. That’s one reason I believe the Red Storm overachieved this year by getting as far as they did.
Next year? That’s the focus now, and in today’s NIL-driven environment, it’s never clear how many players will stay and who will arrive, either by way of high school or the portal. The portal question will be answered soon; it opens on April 7. On the high school scene, the Johnnies’ only commit, Adam Oumiddoch, a 4-star 6’5” guard out of Arlington, Virginia, decommitted because a satisfactory NIL arrangement couldn’t be worked out.
That’s right: it’s April, and St. John’s hasn’t inked a high school senior for next year’s club. That’s not a good sign for a team that knocked on the national championship door this season.
Expectations were high when Pitino was hired, and they are even higher today. SJU hasn’t been to the Final Four in 41 years, the year was 1985 and the Johnnies were led by Coach Lou Carnesecca and they had Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, and Mark Jackson on the floor.
Until Pitino gets the team back, “success” remains an elusive word. It’s fair to say he has loads of work ahead of him.
