College basketball fans took to social media to congratulate head coach Rick Pitino for leading St. John’s to their first Big East regular-season title in four decades.
St. John’s needed a win over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden on Saturday to outrightly clinch it, and they did it with aplomb, dominating the two halves in a 71-61 win.
RJ Luis Jr. led the scoring with 21 points, Zuby Ejiofor had 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to capture his eighth double-double of the season.
St. John’s Long Road to Success and Rick Pitino’s Role
The last time that St. John’s won the Big East regular season title was 1985. Since then, they have had some near misses, and most times, they’ve not even come close. The team has improved significantly since Pitino took over last season.
It has all come together, as they have been on fire with an impressive 26-4 overall record and 17-2 conference record this season. The Red Storm have become a very solid defensive team and have been shooting well.
Pitino is no stranger to success. In fact, this win makes him the first NCAA Division I coach in history to win a regular-season conference title in five seasons with five different college basketball programs.
Before St. John, he won the title with Boston University, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona. St. John’s is set to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, and they are set to get their best seeding since 2000.
Fans Congratulate Rick Pitino and St. John’s
Many fans took to Instagram to congratulate Pitino and his Red Storm team following their win. Bleacher Report Hoops shared a picture of Pitino and highlights from their win over Seton Hall on Saturday, and that post has gotten almost 17,000 likes.
“One of the greatest to do it. Idc what they said about em!” one fan commented.
“This is the best basketball coach we’ve ever seen. You can give him any program and he’ll have it thriving within a year,” another fan with the handle @chris.keesee wrote.
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“He is a top 5 college coach of all time. And if you say he is the best I’m going to argue,” another fan said.
“He’s an incredible coach. Amazing. Nobody motivates like petino,” a different fan commented.
Meanwhile, @mrselfmadehimself wrote, “Why can’t cal adapt to the new era of basketball how Rick did??”
KEEP READING: ‘I Don’t Think It Hurts’ — Rick Pitino in Support of NCAA Tournament Expansion
“Winning changes everything!!! Pitino is a legend,” @mcmanuschom wrote.
With the regular-season title, St. John’s will look to continue their success in the Big East conference tournament as well as the upcoming NCAA tournament, which begins in mid-March.
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