After another historic season with the St. John’s basketball team, Rick Pitino has signed a contract extension with the school.
Pitino announced the news in a video sent to Red Storm fans following its elimination from the NCAA Tournament on Friday night against top-overall seed Duke in the Sweet 16.
“I have signed the contract,” he said in the video obtained by Storm The Paint.
“Will I be back? I’m going to take a few weeks off and see if I’m up to it physically. Now, don’t read anything into this because I’ve said this the last 15 years.”
Pitino led the Red Storm to consecutive years of 30 wins, which had only been done once in program history during legendary runs of the 1984-1986 seasons.
“I am excited about the future of St. John’s basketball, winning back-to-back championships – regular season as well as tournament is an amazing feat and not easy to do,” he continued in the video.
St. John’s appeared in its first Sweet 16 since 1999 this season and became the first program in Big East history to win outright regular season and tournament championships in two straight years.
Pitino’s extension is set to make him the second highest paid head coach in the Big East, only behind UConn’s Dan Hurley, as well as raise the financial compensation for his coaching staff.
When hired at St. John’s in March 2023, he inked a deal for six years.
Earlier this season he earned his 900th career victory and St. John’s President Rev. Brian Shanley and athletics director Ed Kull have made it a priority for Pitino to get his 1,000th victory, as well as finish his coaching career, with the Red Storm.
“Johnnies Nation, we have really accomplished a lot in a short period of time…thanks for your support and look forward to next season.”