The St. John’s basketball president threw a Hail Mary. It needed to catapult itself back to relevance and there was only one man for the job – Rick Pitino.
Pitino sat just miles away from Queens in New Rochelle with the Iona Gales and Red Storm president Rev. Brian Shanley knew what he had to do, and Saturday was the culmination of his idea.
“This is an answer to a prayer,” Rev. Shanley said following the Red Storm winning its first outright Big East regular season championship since 1984-85 against Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon.
“This is what I hoped when we hired Rick,” he continued. “That we would get back to where we are right now, contending for a National Championship. This is just the beginning in my book.”
However, the institution that gets the credit for the Red Storm revival is Providence, a school where the two were able to forge their bond despite not overlapping in Rhode Island.
“I think it was Providence, both literally and place wise,” he joked. “I think I showed at Providence we could turn things around, and we’ve turned things around, but it’s been even faster than we did at Providence.”
Pitino has the Red Storm in uncharted waters that New York City has not seen from a college basketball team since the days of Lou Carnesecca and Chris Mullin. The Red Storm have won 17 league games, a program record, and could be closing in on its first 30-win season since 1985-86.
“This is a redemption story. Where else could Rick Pitino do what he’s doing except here in The Garden with St. John’s? This is like Hollywood, in my book.”
Pitino led the Red Storm to its first undefeated season at home in 94 years and will have the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament in two weeks.
“Rick and St. John’s were meant to be together…I bet you there are so many schools right now going, ‘Why didn’t we hire Rick Pitino before St. John’s did?’”
It’s a question that Shanley can continue to ask because the Hall of Famer is not leaving the Johnnies.
“I think it’s the beginning,” Pitino explained. “I still have a lot of personal things that I want to accomplish in terms of players getting better.”
And St. John’s will have a chance to accomplish those goals for Pitino within the next month during the Big East and NCAA Tournaments, where it is projected to have a Top-3 seed.
“He’s a magician. He’s a genius,” Shanley concluded.
And the show isn’t over yet.