“I only try to recruit PhDs” – Rick Pitino reveals the legendary Wall Street blueprint behind his historic coaching success

St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino is one of the most successful and decorated coaches of all time. Pitino has coached in the NBA, NCAA, and in Europe. He’s won championships at the college level and in Greece.

A year after leading Louisville to the 2013 NCAA men’s basketball title, Pitino was a keynote speaker at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN Conference in 2014 and in his speech he revealed an unforgettable meeting with financial analyst Mario Gabelli, during which he forged the guiding principles of his coaching career.

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Coaching career guided by a PhD

The meetup happened in the 90s, when Pitino’s University of Kentucky alumnus, Jamal Mashburn, was in the NBA, making big bucks. One time, Rick said he accompanied Mashburn to help him invest his earnings. They met with big-time financial advisors from Goldman Sachs, Paine Webber, Merrill Lynch, and Gabelli.

Pitino said he asked Gabelli which schools he hires his people from and the veteran investor gave him a lesson he will never forget.

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“His answer was fascinating to me, and I’ve maintained it as part of my repertoire for years. He said, ‘I look for PhDs…I look for poor, hungry and driven people. I don’t care where they go to school,” said Pitino.

“Today, I only try to recruit PhDs, and I took away the poor because my players don’t want to hear that. So passionate, hungry, driven people. The ones that are humble are the ones that reach their potential. The one that finds success very early on and thinks that it’s because of them doesn’t reach their potential. Humble people understand why you win,” he added.

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Pitino brought a PhD to St. John’s

Three years after that speech, Pitino exited Louisville. For the next three years, Rick coached Panathinaikos in Greece before returning to college basketball to coach Iona College in 2020. Three years later, Pitino was back on the big stage, named head coach of St. John’s at age…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/only-try-recruit-phds-rick-141200216.html

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Publish date : 2026-07-10 14:12:00

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