What the Rick Pitino employing means for St
If Ed Cooley leaping from Providence to Georgetown wasn’t enough, the Big East had a second landscape-shifting hire on Monday, with St. John’s officially agreeing to a handle Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.Pitino was the leading target for the Red Storm from the beginning, emerging as the favorite even before they fired Mike Anderson, and no other severe prospects ever emerged. Almost as quickly as Pitino’s Iona group lost to the UConn Huskies in the first round of the NCAA tournament, discussions advanced. Pitino met with St. John’s authorities on Sunday night, and the offer was done less than 24 hr later.It’s undeniably a massive coup for the Johnnies, who were desperate for a prominent coach in an attempt to return to their glory days.How does it impact Pitino’s brand-new school, his old-fashioned and the Big East as a whole? ESPN’s Jeff Borzello,
John Gasaway and Myron Medcalf dive in.How well does Pitino suit at St. John’s? Editor’s Picks 2 Related One is lured to endeavor that Hall of Popularity coaches fit any place they choose to go. Pitino has won national titles
at Kentucky and Louisville. This makes him both the response to a trivia concern and a classification unto himself. Pitino’s the only coach to have done so at 2 various programs. While there was indeed a storm of controversy and a little an accounting tussle over that 2nd championship, the coach in some way did not absence for suitors in 2023. Pitino picked St. John’s. When Pitino made his debut as a head coach in the Big East in 1985, Ed Cooley was playing basketball at Providence Central High School. To put it simply, this is not the very first rodeo for the brand-new St. John’s coach. The university would seem depending on Pitino to raise the program as he starts nearing the presumed close of a currently storied profession. Pitino’s a New york city City native and Long Island item who’s won in the old ECAC, the Big East, SEC, American, ACC and, most recently, the MAAC. St. John’s thought about all of the above and decided, yes, Rick Pitino fits in Queens.– John Gasaway St. John’s names Rick Pitino new head guys’s basketball coach: https://t.co/nCE8KAUap5 pic.twitter.com/pyDqcoKEcr!.?.!— St. John’s Guy’s Basketball( @StJohnsBBall)March 20, 2023 What’s next for Iona?Iona has been
a factory for high-level training talent and consistent
success over the last 40-something years, going back to Jim Valvano in the late 1970s. Pat Kennedy took over for Valvano when he left for NC State, going to 2 NCAA competitions prior to leaving for Florida State. Tim Welsh leapt from Iona to Providence, while Jeff Ruland then led the Gaels to 3 NCAA tournament appearances. Kevin Willard was poached by Seton Hall, Tim Cluess went to 6 NCAA tournaments in nine seasons– and after that, of course, there’s Pitino’s 3 seasons at the helm. So Iona athletic director Matthew Glovaski will have the ability to choose from an attractive pool of candidates.Two names that jump out are Fairleigh Dickinson’s Tobin Anderson, everybody’s NCAA tournament first-weekend darling, and Bryant’s Jared Grasso, who was an assistant under Cluess for eight years at Iona in the past quickly turning Bryant and going to the NCAA tournament last season.– Jeff Borzello How does this modification the Big East landscape?I indicate,
it gives St. John’s a better opportunity to chase after the same skill that’s helped UConn and Villanova and all of those other East Coast schools, which need to make the league more competitive. However I believe it drastically broadens the recruiting footprint for St. John’s, too. Pitino being back in a major conference will be enticing for a lot of young skill who understand his achievements. Plus, he might be the guy to encourage a lot of transfers to follow him to New York City. And if all of this happens, St. John’s will have a chance to make a larger effect in the years ahead. The modification will not take place immediately. But Pitino always wins big, and he constantly leaves his mark. This won’t be any various.– Myron Medcalf