St. John’s coach Rick Pitino led the Red Storm to a storming 92-70 win over the Butler Bulldogs on Wednesday evening to notch win No. 901 of his college basketball career. Just last week, Pitino crossed the 900-win threshold that has only been done thrice before, and he was honored with a video tribute at Madison Square Garden before the game.
Rick Pitino Dragging St. John’s Along on His Legacy Run
As a bonus, the Red Storm seems to have found its way once again, winning seven consecutive games and climbing back into the AP Top 25 Poll after falling out in December. After winning the Big East in dominant fashion and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Pitino’s Red Storm were ranked No. 5 in the preseason polls and were expected to become even deadlier this season.
What followed was an inconsistent season that saw them tumble out of the AP Top 25 and get a rude awakening to the year when they lost to the Providence Friars on Jan. 3. Since then, St. John’s has been unstoppable, and Pitino’s team is now only one game behind the No. 2 UConn Huskies in the conference standings.
Despite being just two wins away from overtaking Roy Williams (903) in the all-time wins list, Pitino isn’t slowing down, and during his postgame news conference after beating Butler, he set his sights on the next milestone.
“Getting 900 [career wins as a head coach] is a nice thing certainly, but getting 1,000 would be a lot better,” Pitino said. “That means I’ve got to be blessed with good health, good players and just keep recruiting, and the better you recruit, the better coach I am.”
Pitino’s misfiring roster has harmonized in the past few weeks, with the offensive burden spread evenly among five players. Zuby Ejiofor (15.7 ppg), Bryce Hopkins (13.5 ppg), Ian Jackson (11.1 ppg), Oziyah Sellers (11.0 ppg), and Dillon Mitchell (9.7 ppg).
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The Red Storm’s statistics also stand up to scrutiny, including being No. 2 in the conference in points (85.4 pg), No. 3 in field goal percentage (46.9%) and shooting from deep (35.8%), confirming that their good form is not a momentary fluke.
A tasty matchup against the Huskies at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6 will prove the ultimate litmus test about the Red Storm’s competitiveness both in the Big East and on the national stage as Pitino attempts to drag them back to national relevance and win his third national championship at three different programs.
