‘It’s Going To Happen In A Big Way’

It was a bright and sunny first day of spring in the mid-50s on Tuesday in Manhattan when Rick Pitino was introduced as the newest coach of the St. John’s men’s basketball team.

St. John’s fans hope the weather marked an auspicious start of a new era for a program that hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.

Pitino, 70, was resplendent in a dark suit and maroon patterned tie during his introductory press conference at Madison Square Garden, where he coached Patrick Ewing and the Knicks back in the late 1980s.

“It’s not about when, or if, it’s going to happen for St. John’s and it’s going to happen in a big way,” Pitino, clearly enjoying the splendor of the moment, said, emphasizing that he would build “a culture of work.”

His comments echoed what he told me by text from Greece four years ago when he was coaching for two years after being fired at Louisville in 2017: “I would bring St. John’s to the Elite level not seen since Louie [Carnesecca] roamed the sidelines.”

Carnesecca, 98, sat in the front row Tuesday and Pitino made sure to praise his history with the program, including the 1985 Final Four. He said Carnesecca’s key to winning — and his was — to “get players.”

“If you think I’m honored and humbled today to be in Lou Carnesecca’s presence right now, you’re grossly understating how much I admire him,” he said.

Asked if he could win at St. John’s right away, Pitino pointed to two teams that dipped into the transfer portal to turn around their fortunes.

“Without a question you can win right away,” he said. “I think Pittsburgh has shown that right away. I think Missouri has shown that right away. I need guys who can shoot the basketball, not get fatigued, get after it defensively. We’re probably going to have to bring in 6-8 players for this basketball team and that’s going to take a lot of work.”

He added that there would be turnover on the current St. John’s roster. Iona forward Quinn Slazinski has already announced his intention to transfer, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him land in Queens.

“A lot of players probably won’t be back on this team because they’re probably not a good fit for me,” he said. “…It takes a certain type of player to play for me…and if you’re not, it’s just not a good fit, it just doesn’t work.”

He knows how to make an entrance in the Big Apple and how to win the hearts of the people. He and his assistant Steve Masiello and agent Evan Daniels were photographed toasting champagne on Monday night at the Essex House hotel.

He is the only coach to lead two programs to a national championship and one of only three to lead five programs to the NCAA Tournament.

During his three-year stint at Iona, he led the Gaels to two NCAA Tournament appearances, but the Gaels were a double-digit seed both times and lost in the first round. (Iona moved quickly to replace Pitino, landing former Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson on Tuesday.)

There’s a ceiling to coaching at Iona because you’re always going to be a 12-15 seed. And you have to come out of a one-bid league just to get to the Big Dance.

Imagine what he can do at St. John’s, a storied program that still ranks ninth all-time in wins?

He won’t have to win the Big East Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament — although he’ll sure as hell try — he’ll just have to finish near the top of the league. Five of 11 Big East teams made the tournament this year and three are in the Sweet 16.

“It’s not going to be difficult,” he said of restoring St. John’s. “Has it fallen on tough times? Yes it has. But now we’re ready to raise it up because St. John’s is going to be back.”

Pitino will automatically add credibility to a coaching group that already includes Dan Hurley, Greg McDermott, Ed Cooley, Sean Miller, Shaka Smart, Shaheen Holloway, and Thad Matta. He’ll also help the Big East when it comes time for its next TV contract negotiation in two years.

Speaking of Cooley, he’s now at Georgetown replacing Patrick Ewing and don’t count him on out on turning that program around, either.

It’s good for the Big East, good for college basketball, when St. John’s and Georgetown, both located in major media markets, are good. And that hasn’t been the case for some time.

Pitino will demand improvements in the facilities and will bring in his own fundraising to help support those efforts.

“That’s in Father’s hands,” he said of St. John’s president Rev. Brian Shanley….He’ll build something special.”

You can bet the NIL situation will improve, too.

“Any program can be built but you have to change the culture, you have to change the players, because obviously you’re losing for a reason, but anyplace can be built,” he said last week in Albany. “And the NIL is the reason. If you have these collectives, then you go out there and you get yourself free agents.”

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas believes Pitino makes St. John’s an “immediate player.”

“Rick Pitino brings a credibility that St. John’s just hasn’t had for a long time,” Bilas said Monday on SportsCenter.

“He’s won two national championships, seven Final Fours and in a lot of ways he’s synonymous with basketball. It’s hard to imagine college basketball without Rick Pitino in it.”

He added: “Rick Pitino can not only coach and strategize with the best that have ever done this, but he can also recruit and he has immediate credibility with players. And with the transfer portal I have no doubt that he’ll get outstanding players from other places to commit to him. He’ll be able to build the program and build a new culture at St. John’s very, very quickly. This is a home run hire for St. John’s. And the college game is much more interesting and much more compelling with Rick Pitino at St. John’s than not.”

A new era has begun, and Pitino can’t wait to get started.

“We’re going to hit the streets,” he said, “and we’re going to him them hard.”