Rick Pitino called his shot in 2019, said he ‘would bring St. John’s to the elite level’ of Lou Carnesecca era

While exiled from college basketball in 2019 and coaching in Greece after a tumultuous ending to his Louisville tenure, Rick Pitino called his shot. The storied college basketball coach, then 66, told college hoops writer Adam Zagoria that “I would bring St. John’s to the Elite level not seen since Louie (Carnesecca) roamed the sidelines.”

First, the Red Storm first went through the unfruitful four-year tenure of Mike Anderson, and Pitino had to reclaim his collegiate viability with a three-year run at Iona. But six years later, Pitino’s words look prophetic. 

Pitino clinched the first Big East title for St. John’s since Carnesecca’s final season in 1992 with a 76-70 win at Butler on Wednesday night. The No. 7 Red Storm (25-4, 16-2 Big East) haven’t been ranked this high since that season and are racing toward their best NCAA Tournament seeding since 2000.

While St. John’s has technically clinched just a share of the title for now, a victory in either of its final two regular-season games, or a loss by Creighton in any of its final three games, would give the Red Storm the solo league crown.

“I just told the guys we didn’t come here to share anything,” Pitino said Wednesday. “We have our goals. We came to win this thing. We said it weeks ago. It’s in our hands right now, and we’ve got two games to win it. We’ll see what happens.”

Even if the Red Storm win the league outright at Madison Square Garden with a victory over lowly Seton Hall on Saturday, Pitino said he doesn’t expect the team will cut down nets. He noted that, following Seton Hall, there is still a challenging game at No. 21 Marquette ahead to close the regular season.

Though Pitino has quickly led the Red Storm to heights not seen since Carnesecca’s tenure — as Pitino once suggested he could do — matching Carneseeca’s peak would mean there is still ample work ahead. 

The legendary Red Storm coach, who died in November at age 99, led St. John’s to the 1985 Final Four. That was also the last St. John’s team to win the Big East outright.

Though he wasn’t in a celebratory mood after a tight win against Butler, the New York native did allow himself a moment of reflection over what the St. John’s resurgence he once yearned to lead means.

“I’m really, really proud of the guys,” Pitino said. “I’m really happy for them. I’m proud of the fans who have been packing Madison Square Garden in two years, and I’m over the top happy for our student body. Our students are the type of guys that, when school’s over, they’re working at night. They don’t have a lot of money. So I’m really happy for our student body, because they’ve gotten behind the team in heavy numbers.”