Rick vs. Richard Pitino matchups bound to produce some Big East classics
New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino shakes hands with St. John's head coach Rick Pitino during the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game on Nov. 17, 2024, at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Noah K. Murray
It’s been more than two decades since New York sports fans serenaded Pedro Martinez with chants of “Who’s Your Dad-dy” during the 2004 AL Championship Series. Soon that may be ringing out regularly at Madison Square Garden whenever St. John’s takes on Xavier.
On Tuesday New Mexico coach Richard Pitino, son of St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, agreed to a six-year contract to coach the Musketeers, adding yet another layer of intrigue to Big East basketball.
“Xavier is one of the great brands in all of college basketball,” Richard Pitino said in a statement. “It has always been a dream of mine to coach in the Big East. The Cintas Center is going to be rocking. I can’t wait to get to work.”
This was a memorable basketball season for the Pitinos. Rick guided St. John’s to a top five national ranking, a program record-tying 31 wins, its first outright Big East regular season crown in 40 years and first Big East Tournament title in 25. Richard, who took over the Lobos four years ago after a 6-16 season brought them to a second straight NCAA Tournament and a 27-8 record.
Both father and son were their conference’s Coach of the Year and both advanced to the second round of the Big Dance (St. John’s gaining its first tourney win since 2000 along the way). And it could be argued that each has just completed his finest season of coaching – Rick returning the Storm to prominence and Richard overcoming the exit of three of his top four scorers to get back to March Madness.
It’s not like Rick and Richard haven’t faced off. The Red Storm beat New Mexico in a non-conference game at the Garden on Nov. 17. That was the fourth time they went head-to-head and the third time the elder Pitino’s team prevailed.
Before St. John’s faced the Lobos, there was plenty of joking around from the Pitino coaches, especially about the fact that Rick’s wife, Joanne, would be rooting for New Mexico.
“[Joanne] told my son the other day, 'Richard there’s no doubt who I’m rooting for, it’s you,'” he said. “'You’re my blood and he’s not.' It shows you how much she loves me and how much she loves Richard.”
But with the son rising in the Big East, they will now go against each other twice every season and the stakes will be far higher. Those games will be pitched battles, not the family love-in we saw in November. In fact, the junior Pitino’s arrival could make the Xavier-St. John’s games even more intense. Everyone in New York knows how competitive Rick is and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Rick Pitino likes to recount their second meeting, when his Louisville team beat Richard’s Minnesota squad and he got a brush-by handshake. Kidding aside, Rick has heaped plenty of praise on Richard, saying earlier this season that his work as Rick’s assistant at Louisville was key in them winning the 2013 national championship game and calling him “one of the best offensive minds in the game today.”
Last February, when Richard’s name came up in coaching rumors, Rick said he hoped he’d stay with New Mexico and ultimately succeed him one day at St. John's. Asked about that in November, Richard replied “I thought ‘oh, there’s my dad saying another insane thing – I hope nobody’s listening’ . . . That’s never ever been a conversation we’ve had, so I really don’t know where it came from.”
Some might think this move puts him on that trajectory.
The Big East has a long history of great coaches and great coaching rivalries dating back to when Lou Carnesecca, John Thompson, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun were roaming their sidelines . These days, Rick Pitino’s Storm against Dan Hurley’s UConn team is the headline rivalry.
Richard Pitino’s arrival at Xavier means there will be at least two Pitino versus Pitino matchups every season and the bet here is they grow to be worth watching.
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.
