Sources: St. John’s targets Pitino, Anderson out

St. John’s fired head coach Mike Anderson on Friday, and the Red Storm are expected to make Iona’s Rick Pitino their leading target, sources informed ESPN.Anderson failed to reach the NCAA tournament in any of his four seasons at St. John’s, with the Red Storm going 68-56 under his watch. They finished their season on Thursday, losing to Marquette in the Big East competition quarterfinals. The loss dropped them to 18-15 overall and 7-13 in Big East play.”After totally assessing the men’s basketball program, our University has actually decided a modification is needed in both the leadership and direction of St. John’s Basketball,”sports director Mike Cragg said in a declaration. “We wish Coach Mike Anderson and his household the very best in their future. “The Red Storm employed Anderson in 2019, weeks after Arkansas parted ways with

him. He reached the NCAA tournament 3 times in his final 5 seasons with the Razorbacks, however stopped working to replicate that success in the Huge East.St. John’s is expected to turn to Pitino as its top candidate to replace Anderson, sources told ESPN.

A New york city native, the Hall of Popularity head coach has won 2 regular-season champions and one conference tournament in his 3 seasons with the Gaels.Pitino, 70, is thought about probably the very best college basketball coach of his generation and his hire would be the type of big-name required to spark a St. John’s fanbase that hasn’t seen an NCAA tournament win because 2000.