Rick Pitino was full of jokes on social media Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the St. John’s basketball program officially announced its non-conference matchup with Alabama.
The Crimson Tide are another SEC program that the Johnnies will play next season, joining at least Ole Miss and Kentucky.
The Red Storm have also announced its meeting with the Wildcats but nothing official has been revealed about its matchup against the Rebels, although it is expected to be finalized soon.
“We are playing 3 Big time SEC programs: Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi,” Pitino posted on X. “We are thinking of bringing back football under Head Coach, Anthony Zito. If we do, we will submit our application to join SEC football.”
St. John’s last season of football was in 2002 before it was discontinued at the school and Anthony Zito, a versatile defender on the football team from 1995-98, was inducted into the Red Storm Hall of Fame in 2013.
Pitino joked because his non-conference schedule has not been finalized, but St. John’s will be playing in the Players Era Tournament this season and while matchups have yet to be revealed, more SEC teams could appear on the Red Storm’s calendar.
Alabama is participating in the Las Vegas showcase, and it is extremely unlikely that the Tide and Johnnies will meet again in the span of a month, Auburn and Tennessee are also playing in the tournament and could eventually be matched up against St. John’s.
The Red Storm played two games against SEC teams this season and lost both, narrowly falling against Georgia in the Bahamas and its season-ending loss to Arkansas in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
The SEC set 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament this season, breaking the previous record of 11 teams by the Big East in 2011.