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Rick Pitino is associated with quite a lot of history in the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
The St. John’s basketball coach has brought a team to the Sweet 16 for the 14th time in his Hall of Fame career, and has the highest all-time winning percentage among Division I coaches who have at least six trips to the regional semifinals of March Madness (92.3%, on a 12-1 record).
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But as No. 5 St. John’s prepares to take on No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16 inside Washington D.C.’s Capital One Arena, one chapter of Pitino’s March Madness history — from his time at Kentucky — has resurfaced: Christian Laettner’s game-winning shot against the Wildcats to send the Blue Devils to the 1992 Final Four.
Laettner’s turnaround jumper, which came at the end of a perfect full-court pass from Grant Hill on the baseline, is widely regarded as one of the all-time March Madness moments in the tournament’s history. And the memory of that play still stings for Pitino, even when he’s least expecting it.
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“I’m not big into watching ‘Yellowstone’ and shows like that on the iPad, but everybody is convincing me to watch this ‘Paradise’ (show). I was so sick of commercials with Christian Laettner hitting that shot over and over and over,” Pitino said after St. John’s win over Kansas. “So, OK, I’ll watch ‘Paradise.'”
Little did the Hall of Fame coach know that the show references Laettner in an episode.
“That’s cruel. Why would my staff and friends tell me to watch (that)?” Pitino said.
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Curiously, the Duke-Pitino storyline was made possible because of a game-winning buzzer beater from one of Pitino’s own players, Dylan Darling, against the Jayhawks.
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Now, Pitino’s hoping they can replicate that against Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils — getting back at Duke for putting him on the receiving end of one of the most seminal moments in March Madness history.
“I’m hoping we can get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rick-pitino-hopes-duke-buzzer-134616467.html
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Publish date : 2026-03-27 13:46:00
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