Pitino becomes the first Red Storm coach ever to win the award
After orchestrating one of college basketball’s most impressive turnarounds in recent memory, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino has one of the sport’s most distinguished awards to show for it.
Pitino was named the Associated Press’s co-National Men’s Coach of the Year on Friday along with Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, marking the first-ever tie in the award’s 58-year history. This was Pitino’s first-ever Coach of the Year award win and the first time a St. John’s head coach won the distinction.
The Hall of Fame head coach brought St. John’s back to national relevancy in his second year stewarding the program, making an eleven-win improvement over the 2023-24 season and leading the Red Storm to their first outright Big East regular season title in 40 years, their first Big East Tournament title in 25 years, and snapping a quarter-century-long NCAA Tournament win drought.
Over the past month, Pitino has been putting in the work to make sure this year’s overwhelming success carries over into next season, acquiring Providence’s Bryce Hopkins (15.8 ppg in three years with the Friars) and Arizona State’s Joson Sanon (11.9 ppg as a freshman) from the transfer portal to join alongside returning star center and Big East Most Improved Player Zuby Ejiofor. Pitino and his staff have also scheduled a campus visit for Stanford transfer Oziyah Sellers (13.7 ppg this season) next weekend.