March Madness: For St. John's, all good things start in Providence — just ask Rick Pitino
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If you follow St. John’s and you’re a believer in good omens then there is nothing that could feel more perfect or apropos than the Red Storm starting this NCAA Tournament in Providence. Huge things for both coach Rick Pitino and the Storm players happened here, in the capital city of the smallest state.
This is where the basketball coaching career of the whiz kid who grew up in New York and Bayville took off and set him on a course for two national championship game wins, a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and a rep as arguably the greatest college coach in history.
And this is where the 2024-25 St. John’s team performed the first of its many amazing feats and discovered its identity. Back in December, St. John’s overcame a 16-point deficit, 15 missed three-pointers and 15 missed free throws and still found a way to win on a Zuby Ejiofor buzzer-beater. It was that game where the Red Storm became the determined and resourceful group that would not be overwhelmed by any misfortune en route to a 30-4 record and a Big East title.
Yes, this is where Storm fans were hoping St. John’s might begin a magical March run. But that was mostly about needing only three to four hours in the car to go see them. There were so many more reasons to want the Red Storm right here.
St. John’s president Rev. Brian J. Shanley, the man who brought Pitino to Queens, stood on the confetti-littered floor of Madison Square Garden Saturday night while the Red Storm were cutting down the nets after winning the Big East Tournament championship game for the first time in 25 years. He called the season “a huge catharsis” after “30 [25 actually] years in the wilderness.”
“I'm praying for Providence right now, literally,” he said. “For Rick to be able to go back to Providence, where he really got the bump that got him up, that would be a sweet story. So, I'm not going to tempt God, but that's what I would like to see happen,”
And here they are, after a decision made by the NCAA Tournament selection committee — though some I am sure would like to call it Divine Providence.
Pitino was hired before the 1985-86 season at Providence off the staff of Knicks coach Hubie Brown to guide a team languishing in the Big East. Before the 1986-87 season, the NCAA installed the three-point shot and Pitino was among the first coaches — maybe the first — to deploy it as a primary offensive weapon. With Rockville Centre’s Billy Donovan as the star player, Pitino guided the Friars to the Final Four.
“I always think that anything is possible because of that basketball team,” Pitino said in February.
When St. John’s played at Providence last season he lobbied for Donovan’s No. 34 to be retired and hung in the rafters, something that came to fruition this season.
“With my time at Providence, I learned to never stop dreaming because that was a dream,” Pitino told the Boston Globe before the December win in Providence.
Pitino is still revered in Rhode Island by basketball fans grateful for that 1987 Final Four run.
While his final season in Providence gave Pitino some of his best coaching memories, it was also a time of great sadness. Pitino and his wife, Joanne, had an infant son, Daniel, born with a congenital heart defect. He explained in the VICE TV docuseries chronicling this season that on the bus ride back from the 1987 Big East Tournament, police stopped the team bus and asked him to call someone at the hospital, who informed him Daniel had passed away.
According to the Globe, Pitino still visits Daniel’s grave when in Providence.
There was a small flaw when Pitino and his staff crafted the schedule for this season. Before Big East play began, the Red Storm played only neutral court and home games. They hadn’t played in the hostile environs of a true road game. And the Dec. 20 game with the Friars at Amica Mutual Pavilion — where St. John’s faces No. 15 Omaha Thursday at 9:45 p.m. — was a harsh introduction.
The Storm were awful in the first half — 1-for-9 on threes and 2-for-7 at the line — and Pitino got after them at the break. The clip VICE shot of Pitino’s halftime talk has gone viral and been viewed over 1 million times. But St. John’s found a victory with tenacious defense and ruthless offensive rebounding in the second half. Those have been their trademarks since.
The Storm may find a very different crowd at The AMP Thursday. St. John’s fans are expected to descend on the building. And basketball fans in Rhode Island who bought tickets long ago are likely to favor Pitino’s squad.
Everyone wants to be there at the start of something big.
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.
