St. John's and Rick Pitino 'meant to be together'
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino talks to his team during the second half against the Seton Hall Pirates at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Credit: Brad Penner
There was a long-lost vision for St. John’s basketball, one that those who remember its glory years have pined for again, one in which it resumes its place in the upper echelon of the college basketball world. When university president Rev. Brian A. Shanley saw the opportunity to hire Rick Pitino to coach the Red Storm, he came to believe he could give his constituency that vision.
That far-off, forgotten vision came into focus on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
The final seconds had ticked off seventh-ranked St. John’s often ugly 71-61 Big East victory over Seton Hall as the Red Storm earned their first outright Big East regular-season championship since the 1985 Final Four team did it. The sellout crowd of 19,812 — in a game moved from the on-campus arena to the Garden two weeks ago — roared its approval.
Within moments, Zuby Ejiofor was holding the championship trophy aloft, surrounded by joyous teammates as red and white confetti showered over them.
This is why programs that have fallen on disrepair have long looked to Pitino. Again and again and again, he has picked up the pieces of a broken program and found a way to build a skyscraper where ruins had stood. The higher floors — at Providence, Kentucky and Louisville — often were built in his second year, much as it appears is happening now.
“This is an answer to a prayer,” Shanley said. “This is what I’d hoped when we hired Rick, that we would get back where we are right now, contending for a national championship. This is just the beginning, in my book . . . Now let's win the Big East Tournament. Let's get a good [NCAA Tournament] seed and let's go long and deep.”
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) might have a chance to move up in the AP Top 10 on Monday after No. 6 Alabama lost a close one and No. 3 Florida lost at Georgia earlier in the week. But it doesn’t sound as if Pitino or any of his players have taken their eyes off next Weekend’s Quad I game at No. 21 Marquette and the chance to enhance the Red Storm's NCAA Tournament seeding further in that game and the Big East Tournament.
According to Bracketmatrix.com, which is tracking 95 projections of bracket "scientists,’' the Red Storm right now figure to be a No. 3 in some region.
“We wanted to win the Big East,” Pitino said. “We have our goals . . . We didn't want to hear anything about a tie. We have respect for Creighton and everybody else in the league, but there were no ties for us. We got it done tonight and we'll be totally focused on getting Marquette.”
Amid the celebration, the presence of legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca could be felt in the gear the players and fans wore to pay homage to him. Carnesecca passed away at age 99 in November and Pitino often has said that Carnesecca would have been proud of this team and the way it plays.
“Lou means a lot to a lot of people,” Pitino said. “I coached against him. He was the gentleman of gentlemen, a fierce competitor, a great basketball coach. So we're real proud of the fact that in the year that he passed, because he led a great life, we can honor him with this championship.”
“It’s like Looie's looking down on this,” Shanley said. “I'm not going to claim credit from him, but I think it helps us.”
The dance between Shanley and Pitino started years ago when Shanley was the president at Providence and Pitino returned to campus for an anniversary of the 1987 Final Four team. He said the campus had been tremendously upgraded, as had the basketball program and the fan turnout. Everyone there told him Shanley had masterminded all of it.
When Shanley was looking for a replacement for Mike Anderson, he saw only one choice.
“So it's like you're looking at the list of who could be the coach [and] it was obvious that Rick Pitino was by far the best coach that we could have had,” Shanley said. “ I think Rick realized this was the greatest opportunity he was going to have. I mean, this is a redemption story. And where else could Rick Pitino do what he's doing except here in the Garden with St John's.
“It's like you couldn't have scripted this,” he added. “This is like Hollywood in my book. And so for me, Rick and St John's were meant to be together.”
No one, however, figured on things happening this fast, less than two years after Pitino came aboard. Sure, the Red Storm talked about winning the Big East title from the outset, something Ejiofor said started to look very possible in the 10 or 15 games before Saturday, “stretches of just everybody meshing well and coming together on both sides of the ball,” he said Friday. “I knew we’re something special.”
Pitino said he could have imagined success, but not the outpouring of support that St. John’s fans have produced. This was the third straight Garden sellout for the Red Storm.
“It’s faster than I thought,” Shanley said. “I thought we'd be in the tournament this year, but not like where we are right now. [Pitino’s] a magician. He's a genius.”
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.
