Rick Pitino has been ingrained in basketball history for over five decades. After playing his college basketball at the University of Massachusetts from 1971-74, Pitino got his coaching start as the interim head coach for the University of Hawaii back in 1975. He's since coached eight teams between the NBA and college.
Pitino has coached three different teams (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to seven total Final Fours as well as two National Championships (Kentucky, 1996 and Louisville, 2013). In 2013, Pitino was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Following a scandal the University of Louisville, however, Pitino was fired in 2017. He took a hiatus from coaching before returning to the NCAA coaching ranks at Iona University in 2020. After vastly improving Iona's basketball program, Pitino accepted a job at St. Johns University in 2023.
After just two years at the helm at St. Johns, Pitino has the Red Storm "dancing" once again in the NCAA Tournament. St. Johns returns to the field of 68 for the first time in six years, following the program's fourth Big East Tournament championship.
After beating Creighton 82-66 in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Pitino was asked during his on-court, postgame interview how he planned on celebrating his team's victory. Pitino offered his clear, seven-word celebration plan.
How does Rick Pitino plan on celebrating the Big East Tournament win?
"I'm gonna drink a quart of Jameson's."pic.twitter.com/87RMwqR4WP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2025
"I'm gonna drink a quart of Jameson's," Pitino said.
Given that St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, this seems to be an appropriate response.
With the Red Storm's ticket being punched, the 72-year-old Pitino became the first coach in NCAA history to take six schools to the Big Dance. The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.
Pitino, in his second season with the Red Storm, also became the first coach to win the Big East Tournament at two schools. He's won three times in his last four seasons in the league, after guiding Louisville to championships in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
"Great win for the city. Great win for our university. You hear it all along that it's New York's team, and it truly is," the Hall of Fame coach said. "As a New Yorker myself, I'm very, very proud that St. John's has gotten to this level."
Related: St. John's Makes Rick Pitino Announcement After Winning Big East Title
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This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 1:57 AM.