Rick Pitino has the chance to make more history…for St. John’s and himself
BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ
NEW YORK — Since Rick Pitino’s arrival at St. John’s the program has gone through a transformation into one of the powerhouse programs in the country. With its win against Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, it’ll have a chance to do something it has never done in program history.
The reigning BIG EAST champion St. John’s can defend their title on Saturday to become back-to-back champions for the first time in team history. They’ll play the winners of the matchup between UConn and Georgetown, two programs that have won more than their fair share of BIG EAST titles with both programs having eight titles.
St. John’s has never won back-to-back Big East Tournament titles
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 13, 2026
With a win here tonight they will have that opportunity Saturday night pic.twitter.com/jcRA6AvQZf
While St. John’s is the defending BIG EAST Champion, most of the roster is playing their first season at St. John’s. But it doesn’t mean any less to a team who wants a shot at making history.
“For us new guys, we weren’t part of the team last year but we want it just as bad,” St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell said after their 78-68 victory against Seton Hall. “We have the same type of chip on our shoulder like we won it last year with them. So it’s just about coming together, staying as one and going out there and competing for 40 minutes.”
Pitino knows a thing or two about winning conference titles. He won four straight SEC Tournament titles at Kentucky from 1992-1995 and back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles in 2012 and 2013, among others. Still, the Naismith Hall of Famer continues to search for history and refuses to take his eyes off the prize.
“There’s no [NCAA] tournament, there’s tomorrow night,” Pitino said about his preparation for the NCAA Tournament. “Which is the opposite of what you just said. This is a championship we are playing for a championship. We played in the regular season as if our life is on the line we are going to play tomorrow as if our life is on the line. Then we will worry about the tournament but right now we are just thinking about beating either Connecticut or Georgetown whichever one wins and focusing on them.”
St. John’s knows that winning tends to follow Pitino in college basketball and they have shown that they want to remain on that path. St. John’s has extended an offer for a restructured contract that would make him the second-highest paid coach in the BIG EAST. The new contract is expected to be valued at $7 million a year for three years, sources have told ZAGSBLOG.
Whether or not they win on Saturday, the Johnnies have shown they are a dominant force in one of college basketball’s premier conferences and have no plans on going anywhere anytime soon.
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