The Big East Conference is an athletic conference that spans from the rocks of the New England coast to the plains of Nebraska. The basketball-focused conference dominates the postseason tournament, and has become a coveted group to join. A part of the new “Power Five” conferences in basketball, the Big East receives many bids into March Madness each year. They have even brought home back-to-back National Championships with their flagship member, the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Through all this recent buzz, one team sat silent, Saint John’s University, which sat near the bottom with no future in sight. This changed in 2023, as they hired legendary seventy-two year old coach, Rick Pitino, who set his eyes on returning the Red Storm back to their national prominence from the 1980s.
Rick Pitino’s coaching career started in 1975 as he worked his way through Hawaii and Boston University, where he would receive his first NCAA Tournament bid in 1983, per SportsReference.com. He would then take a job at Providence College and take the Friars to his first Final Four experience. With this run, Pitino would jump again to the University of Kentucky, where his success would take off. Through eight years, Pitino led the Wildcats to six-straight Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament titles, two Final Fours, and a national championship in 1996. Success cannot compete with money, however, as Pitino would leave again in 2001. With a quick drive west on I-64, he would take over the University of Louisville Cardinals, Kentucky’s arch rival. With some early struggles, he took the Cardinals to a Final Four in 2005, but needed long-term influence to form a dynasty. Luckily, in 2012, Pitino would add some more hardware to his trophy case.
The 2012 and 2013 Louisville teams are known as one of the greats, and they took home a Final Four and a National Championship in back-to-back years. This historic team got to put up a banner in their rafters and etched their name in history, but that is not their legacy, however. In 2015, word came out that the team was participating in illicit activities banned heavily against the NCAA’s values, per NCAA.com. This form of recruiting led to a domino effect within the organization, and all of their wins from 2011 to 2015 were vacated, along with their national title. With this, Rick Pitino was fired, and his coaching future was in jeopardy. Even with the controversy, Pitino was hired by Iona University (New York) in 2020 and led the Gaels to two NCAA Tournament appearances in three years, a rare feat for a mid-major program.
As for the Red Storm, their success was slim-to-none as their hopes to become a powerhouse again were dwindling year-after-year. Their consistent finishes within the lower tier of the Big East Conference were becoming redundant, being known as two easy wins for their larger conference foes. This lack of success became too much, and St. Johns took a chance on Pitino, bringing him back to the big leagues. With his first year, Pitino brought them back to relevancy and barely missed the NCAA Tournament with a twenty-win season. This boost in energy created buzz around the program and brought in high-value transfers and commitments. As St. Johns entered the 2024-2025 season, they were still under the radar, and many forecasters did not see the Red Storm coming.
The storm started their campaign with a 10-2 non-conference record with close losses versus Baylor and Georgia, but the clouds were darkening and their conference run was ready to brew. Win after win, the storm took down their “big brothers” and went on a ten-game win streak from December to February and quickly jumped the ranks within the conference. With only two losses within the Big East so far, St. John’s locked up the regular season Big East Title over Marquette University, with whom they finish their season. This title was their first regular season championship in forty years, and their hopes for a conference tournament championship are becoming a reality. Within two years, Rick Pitino led the Red Storm to drown out their competition and the storm is still brewing.
As of March 3, St. Johns sits at number six in the nation, per the AP Poll, and a conference tournament run could lead to them securing a one seed for the NCAA Tournament’s Big Dance. Their depth and experience lead to many favoring a deep run for the boys in red, and the hype is growing each and every day. The man leading the storm, Rick Pitino, has done wonders to this program and brings style on-and-off the court. His debut all-white suits and New York City aura make him “the Godfather of Basketball”, and he leaves no mercy for teams in his way. For Pitino, “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”
