Rick Pitino meets with St. John’s officials after offer, will decide soon whether to ‘pull the trigger’

By ADAM ZAGORIA

ALBANY, N.Y. — Despite battling a cold, Rick Pitino met Sunday with St. John’s President Rev. Brian J. Shanley and other officials on campus and is expected to make a decision on his future in the coming days, a source close to him said Sunday.

St. John’s has offered the 70-year-old Hall of Famer the job as its men’s basketball coach and it’s up to him to “pull the trigger,” the source said, adding he “will sleep on it.”

Even though St. John’s is offering close to five times what he makes at Iona, Pitino is feeling “torn” because of his relationship with his current team, which lost to UConn here on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Rick Pitino is expected to make up his mind about his coaching future by Wednesday, per source close to him.

Going to St. John’s and staying at Iona are the options pic.twitter.com/YWR6ISlRjt

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 19, 2023

Pitino has the backing of legendary former St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca.

“I don’t think we can get a better coach,” the 98-year-old Carnsesecca told Fox5NY of Pitino. “I mean, I don’t know any at this time. Look around, who you gonna get? Right? You can’t bring back Naismith.”

Pitino, who has led three programs to the Final Four and is the only coach to win championships at two schools, this week called St. John’s President Shanley “a superstar” for what he accomplished at Providence. Pitino led Providence to the 1987 Final Four and recently returned to the campus for a celebration honoring several of the school’s former basketball teams.

Shanley was the President of the school from 2005-20 before coming to St. John’s.

“I know Father Shanley, he once offered me the job when I was at Louisville, at Providence,” Pitino said. “He’s a Providence college graduate. “Ed Cooley, who I spoke to the other day, said, “He’s a superstar’ and he is. I went to Providence’s reunion with Billy the Kid [Billy Donovan] and Pete Gillen and the three teams that went to an Elite Eight or better, and I didn’t recognize the campus and their practice facility was off the charts.

“That’s father Shanley, he did all that, he was the architect behind all of that. So I was just praising him as the Providence person, not as the St. John’s person.”

Asked if St. John’s could reach its previous heights and become an elite program regardless who coaches the team, Pitino referenced the importance of Name, Image and Likeness and changing the culture.

“Any program can be built but you have to change the culture, you have to change the players, because obviously you’re losing for a reason, but anyplace can be built,” he said. “And the NIL is the reason. If you have these collectives, then you go out there and you get yourself free agents.”

Still, he said he has a “terrific” team coming back to Iona next year and his ability to win would play a key role in any decision he makes.

“I have a terrific team coming back with [Walter] Clayton, Daniss [Jenkins], Nelly [Junior Joseph], Osborn [Shema], four starters are returning,” he said. “I have two or three guys coming off the bench so that’s really important to me as well. I look at that as the No. 1 factor in my life so it’s going to take a special place for me to consider leaving.”

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