Pitino heads to Queens, NY, after a successful three-year stint at Iona where he led the Gaels to two regular season MAAC championships and one MAAC Tournament title. He fell 87=63 to his new rival UConn in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
He is, of course, one of the most accomplished head coaches in the history of college basketball, hence his aforementioned HOF credentials. The 70-year-old veteran has led three different programs to a combined seven Final Four appearances and picked up national championships in his stints at both Kentucky and Louisville. However, his reputation took a tremendous hit as a series of scandals brought his 16-year tenure at Louisville to an end with his firing in 2017.
As a Long Island native and former head coach of the New York Knicks, Pitino now returns home to the Big East, where he won the fabled conference tournament at Madison Square Garden on three different occasions. He will be tasked with jumpstarting a St. John’s program that has reached the NCAA Tournament just four times since the turn of the century.
VING It ?
