Before Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell joined the NBA and established himself as one of the league’s premier offensive players, he spent two seasons playing college basketball at the University of Louisville, and Rick Pitino was the head coach of the Cardinals in both seasons.
So after Pitino — who is now the head coach at St. John’s University — coached the Red Storm to a Big East Tournament title, Mitchell showed love to his former coach.
Man @RealPitino got them boys rollin!!!
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) March 16, 2025
The Red Storm beat Creighton University in the title game of the tournament on Saturday by a final score of 82-66. Guard R.J. Luis Jr. was probably the top performer for St. John’s in the contest, as he dropped a team-high 29 points while shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range.
The Cardinals missed out on the NCAA Tournament in Mitchell’s first season with the team but qualified in his swan song at the collegiate level.
Mitchell had a forgettable freshman season under Pitino before he enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign. Across 34 games played and 33 starts as a sophomore, he averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
Unlike Mitchell, Pitino didn’t parlay his success in college basketball over to the NBA level. In stints as the head coach of the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, he has a 192-220 regular-season record coaching in the league. His tenure in Boston went especially wayward, as the team did not qualify for the playoffs even once with him holding the coaching reins.
Mitchell will try to accomplish something Pitino never did as an NBA head coach and advance past the second round of the playoffs later this year. The Cavaliers have had a historically successful 2024-25 regular season, as the team just recently set a franchise record for the longest winning streak.
However, all of the success the team has enjoyed would ultimately be for naught if Cleveland flames out in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Here’s to hoping that Mitchell and the Cavaliers will finally be able to exercise their playoff demons when the playoffs roll around next month.