Greatest college basketball coach of all time? Rick Pitino making his case at St. John’s

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UCLA coach Mick Cronin joked during a press conference last week that if he had Rick Pitino’s money, “I’d be on a private plane for Cabo right now.”

Well, Rick Pitino has Rick Pitino’s money and he’s not on a plane to Cabo. On the contrary: He’s about to win the Big East in Year 2 at St. John’s.

At 72 years old, Pitino’s contemporaries are pretty much gone from college basketball. Jim Boeheim talks on television. Mike Krzyzewski does a podcast. Roy Williams sits in the stands at North Carolina games like a fan. Leonard Hamilton announced Monday he’s calling it a career.

And here’s Pitino, about to take a sixth school to the NCAA Tournament and maybe make his case as the best college basketball coach of all time.

St. John’s, ranked No. 10 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll, beat No. 11 Marquette 70-64 on Tuesday to establish a clear lead in the Big East regular season race. And it was classic Pitino, his team running and hustling and guarding like maniacs, winning with grit and pace and 21 offensive rebounds even when 3-pointers (3-for-16) and free throws (17-for-31) weren’t falling.

Watching the game on television, it struck me that I don’t remember any part of my life as a sports fan that doesn’t include Pitino coaching big games and being a relevant figure in March. I had just turned 12 years old when Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats lost to Christian Laettner and Duke on arguably the most famous buzzer-beater in NCAA Tournament history.

Next month, I’m going to celebrate my 45th birthday, and Pitino will bring yet another team to March Madness with a legitimate chance to make the Final Four.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and appreciate the sheer improbability of such a long, productive run. As much as college sports have evolved, as big as the generation gap has grown, one thing hasn’t changed at all. No matter what, Pitino is going to win — and win big — even as his contemporaries have mostly decided…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/greatest-college-basketball-coach-time-124350657.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-05 12:43:00

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