Two high-major college basketball programs are reportedly interested in hiring Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
It was reported early Friday by Zach Braziller of The New York Post that the St. John’s Red Storm is a potential target for Pitino himself. Well, news dropped on Friday afternoon that the program would dump head coach Mike Anderson. So now, there’s a vacancy. College basketball insider Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported the very same thing on Friday afternoon, corroborating Braziller’s report.
“There is significant interest on both sides with the St. John’s job and Iona coach Rick Pitino, source told @Stadium,” Goodman tweeted.
There is significant interest on both sides with the St. John’s job and Iona coach Rick Pitino, source told @Stadium. https://t.co/O7k4iJiapi
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 10, 2023
St. John’s is not the only program that will pursue Pitino reportedly, though. According to Braziller, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are after him as well. Now former head coach Mark Adams recently resigned after the program suspended him for a racially insensitive comment.
“Can confirm that Texas Tech has made it clear they are very interested in hiring Rick Pitino, as @JonRothstein is reporting,” Braziller tweeted.
Can confirm that Texas Tech has made it clear they are very interested in hiring Rick Pitino, as @JonRothstein is reporting. #sjubb
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) March 10, 2023
So there will be a race to pursue the Hall of Fame coach. Pitino currently operates in Iona with the Iona Gaels of the MAAC. He, of course, was dismissed from the Louisville Cardinals after a series of incidents. But there’s also no denying the kind of coach he is and can be.
As our own Michael Grant said, someone should hire Rick Pitino. It looks like someone may well.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022