By ADAM ZAGORIA
NEW YORK – St. John’s coach Rick Pitino hasn’t been shy about ripping the latest wave of realignment in college sports.
He recently took a shot on Twitter at the ACC for adding West Coast schools Cal and Stanford by joking that the Big East was looking to add two pro teams from. Greece, where he coached for several years.
“It’s only a nine-hour flight,” he cracked.
It’s great that the ACC has added Stanford and Cal. I hear the Big East is looking to add teams from Panathinaikos & Olympiacos – it’s only a nine hour flight
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) September 1, 2023
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When I caught up with Pitino during his first trip to the U.S. Open this week, he had more to say on the topic, ripping college presidents and universities who allowed these things to happen. The Pac-12 collapsed and will lose 10 schools beginning in 2024 — four apiece to the Big Ten and Big 12 and, most recently, two to the ACC.
“I’m just joking [on Twitter] because I think it’s the most absurd thing what’s going on in the world of college sports, it’s totally absurd,” Pitino told me.
“They don’t even care about women’s sports, minor sports. They’re just saying you’ve gotta travel, so everybody’s going to be sitting in an airport with their flight delayed while football and basketball are taking their private planes.”
One ACC basketball assistant told me virtually the same thing, in slightly less colorful language.
“I have no idea how Olympic sports are going to make it work,” the assistant said. “And if you go to Cal/Stanford to play tennis or soccer or volleyball, you are going to fly across the country every other week? Miserable.”
Pitino continues to maintain that the Big East is in a great position amid the wave of realignment because it’s a basketball-only league where hoops is still “king.”
“In 40-plus years, teams have changed but the Big East model that Dave Gavitt built has remained intact,” Pitino, who has led five programs to the NCAA Tournament and three to the Final Four, told me recently. “Playoffs at Madison Square Garden, it’s been traditionally a Catholic-school league except for Butler and UConn and it has not looked to expand.
“It’s a basketball league, so change is not being altered in the Big East and it’s a wonderful thing.”
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