Rick Pitino, whose coaching journey began with a six-year contract in 2023, is now steering the ship at St. John’s. Midway through this pivotal agreement, he is eyeing a significant milestone: achieving 1,000 career wins. To reach this goal, Pitino would likely need to continue coaching for at least three additional seasons beyond the current one.
When questioned about his coaching future past the expiration of his current contract in the 2028-29 season, Pitino revealed that he intends to evaluate his tenure at St. John’s much earlier. “After this season, I plan to decide if I can maintain this level of intensity and passion. If I can, it would be fantastic. Ideally, I would love to coach for another three to five years,” he stated.
At 73, Pitino has revitalized the St. John’s basketball program. Under his leadership last year, the team clinched its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1985 and secured its first conference tournament victory since 2000.
“I said to everybody when I took the job, been on record, that I’m going to give it three great years at St. John’s, see if we can turn the thing around, build it, and then after three years, make a decision. [Does] the future have upward mobility?” Pitino told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein in an interview released this week.
As of Friday night, St. John’s, ranked No. 22, was on an impressive eight-game winning streak. They faced off against No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden, holding the second spot in the Big East standings.
Pitino, 73, has indeed turned St. John’s around. Last year, he led the program to its first outright Big East regular season championship since 1985 and to its first conference tournament title since 2000.
No. 22 St. John’s entered Friday night’s marquee matchup with No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on an eight-game winning streak and was second in the Big East standings.
St. John’s Athletic Director Ed Kull has made it clear the program wants to keep Pitino, including telling NJ Advance Media in October that he is willing “to go fundraise more money and chase more dollars” if that’s what it takes.
When CBS asked what he needs to see from St. John’s as he considers his future, Pitino replied, “I don’t think it’s necessarily St. John’s. It’s where I think the Big East is.”
“Can I get the program legitimately as a top-10 program?” Pitino said. “Those are things I have to look at more than anything else. But I’m very happy at St. John’s. I love competing at Madison Square Garden. There’s nothing negative about St. John’s. It’s just about where I’m at in my lifetime.”
Pitino, who last month became the fourth Division I coach with 900 on-court victories, often says the biggest challenge of the NCAA’s NIL and transfer portal era is having to coach numerous new players every year.
The Red Storm returned only one starter in Zuby Ejiofor this season. They are set to lose at least four starters next season, as Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell and Oziyah Sellers are each in their final year of eligibility.
But Pitino does expect several rotation players to return, including 6-11 sophomore Ruben Prey, who is behind Ejiofor on the depth chart.
“He deserves to start here,” Pitino said of Prey. “I think that Joson [Sanon] has a great future here. I think Ian [Jackson] has his head in other places and [is] trying to make the pros. That was the intention, and we wish him nothing but the best. He’s a terrific young man. And, certainly, Dylan Darling’s going to come back.”
