Rick Pitino talks about coaching against his son and 'over the top' parents
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino against Wagner on Wednesday. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
When No. 22 St. John’s faces New Mexico at the Garden on Sunday, it will be the fourth time that Red Storm coach Rick Pitino coaches against his son, Richard Pitino. Right up until game time, both are sure to enjoy the “family affair” storyline. Expect the niceties to end when the teams take the floor.
After St. John’s 66-45 win over Wagner on Wednesday night, Pitino was asked about playing his son and jokingly replied, “I never had a thought about disowning a son, but it may come to that.”
However, during an appearance Thursday morning on “Boomer & Gio,” WFAN’s morning show, he painted a more vivid picture of what to expect. He recounted their second meeting, when the father’s Louisville team beat the son’s Minnesota team, 81-68, in Puerto Rico on Dec. 18, 2022.
“We were there two days early for the [game], the media is following us around [and] he’s giving me hugs [like] I’m the greatest dad in the world,” Pitino said. “Then we won a very hard-fought game and I went to shake his hand and he gave me a Jim Boeheim blow-by handshake.”
Pitino also was asked to follow up on a postgame reply he gave Wednesday night after a question about Zuby Ejiofor’s surprisingly slow start to the season.
He initially suggested that the 6-9 junior center needs to adjust to teams game-planning for him. Then his answer ranged into a general description about the parents of today’s players being more concerned about individual stats than winning.
On a follow-up question, he said he wasn’t speaking specifically of any St. John’s player. But it certainly sounded as if he were describing Ejiofor in Thursday’s radio interview.
“Most of my players, I would say, give 80% of the NIL [money] to their parents to help them out . . . and that’s a great thing,” Pitino said. “And the parents are great parents. They’re very interested, [but] they’re just a little bit over the top.
“One of my players on the team, he hasn’t been rebounding well and his parents said, ‘Look, you’ve got to get your numbers, you’ve got to get those rebounds up,’ ” he continued. “These kids have enough pressure with social media — they don’t need that. And so it is a little over the top.
“They are wonderful parents, they’re loving parents. They’re great, but they’re just a little too involved. I wish they would just be less involved in their lives in terms of performance. Leave [that] up to the coaches . . . I wish they would just take a little bit of a back seat. Just be loving parents, as they are, and put a little less pressure on these guys.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.