As Rick Pitino’s halftime speech for his team’s game against Providence continues to generate buzz on social media, the St. John’s head coach implied that it was nothing compared to his halftimes during his time with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Coach Rick Pitino Explains St. John’s Basketball Resurgence
In an X post by Adam Zagoria on Tuesday, Pitino said, “I really wasn’t that tough on them. You should’ve seen some of my Kentucky halftimes.”
“You don’t get down when things go wrong. You dig in and get tougher. Your whole life’s gonna be adversity. Learn how to deal with it.”
This clip from Vice’s “Pitino: Red Storm Rising” gives an inside look at how Rick Pitino gets through to his guys: pic.twitter.com/81aJztY5uR
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) February 17, 2025
The Red Storm’s second-year coach also revealed the program was dormant for years before he took charge of it.
“It’s been a dormant program from a facilities standpoint, from a marketing standpoint, for almost 25 years. It’s a time warp,” Pitino explained. “I think if you traveled to Cuba, you would see St. John’s basketball in terms of nothing being done for 25 years to market the product,” he said, as reported by Zagoria.
Pitino became St. John’s head coach in 2023 and has since led the Red Storm to 10th place in the AP top 25 poll. St. John’s currently tops the Big East and has improved to 22-4 overall.
The last time the “Johnnies” won the Big East title was in 1992, and their last NCAA tournament win was in 2000. With Pitino at the helm, it looks like St. John’s is poised for a postseason run.
When asked what brought on the team’s resurgence, Pitino told SLAM Magazine, “When you’re 72 years of age, and you’ve coached for 50 years, and you’ve coached the Celtics, the Knicks, Kentucky, Louisville, Providence, I think your confidence is established from the players you coach. Coaches don’t win games; players win games.
“We had confidence going in that we could recruit the players necessary to win and, also, history repeats itself,” the coach explained. “If you have the right culture, be it Kentucky, be it Louisville, be it Providence, you’re gonna turn it around. It’s not false confidence, it’s confidence you’ll bring in the right players to fill the culture you want to present.”
KEEP READING: Fans React to Rick Pitino’s Viral Halftime Speech
St. John’s stellar season can be credited to the players, who are mostly transfers. RJ Luis, a transfer from Massachusetts, currently leads the Red Storm in scoring with 17.6 points. Ruby Ejiofor leads the team with eight rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, while Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond leads with 5.1 assists and two steals per game.
In March, Pitino will make history when he makes St. John’s the sixth school he has taken into the NCAA tournament.
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