MINNEAPOLIS — Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame coach from Long Island ensnared by off-court issues, would have interest in the St. John’s coaching position, but only if he was granted an apology and cleared publicly by the Southern District of New York.
Now coaching in Greece, the 66-year-old Pitino was fired with cause in September 2017 by Louisville following allegations of a pay-for-play scandal involving five-star recruit Brian Bowen that was part of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. Also under his watch was the escort scandal, in which players and recruits were being entertained by strippers and prostitutes, as organized by former Pitino staffer Andre McGee. Pitino was issued a five-game suspension for that.
Pitino has staunchly maintained his innocence in both scenarios and believed the SDNY dragged him through the mud and ruined his reputation by including his name in a complaint.
“My point is I have great respect for St. John’s, and in order to be in that environment, people would have to know the truth,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday, regarding his interest in potentially replacing Chris Mullin. “I’ve never, ever in 40-plus years of coaching ever given $5 for a player to come play for me. You can ask Donovan Mitchell, Derek Anderson, Antoine Walker, all the guys I recruited.
“There wasn’t a shred of evidence except for a con artist mentioning my name and they never rectified it, never came out and offered me an apology. Southern District of New York just says you’re collateral damage and says the hell with you.”
Pitino denied he reached out to St. John’s on Monday to express interest in the job, as a source indicated. Taking the situation with the SDNY away, Pitino said he doesn’t believe St. John’s has interest in him and believes athletic director Mike Cragg will focus on Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, whom Cragg knows from their days at Duke together.
“I think the AD is a Duke man and Bobby Hurley was a great Duke player, and I think he would be an excellent choice,” he said.
But Pitino has no doubt he could excel at St. John’s, despite the program’s problems the last two decades. It hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in 19 years and is without a point guard for next season at the moment after Shamorie Ponds announced his intentions to enter the NBA draft and Cam Mack, junior college point guard top recruit, requested his release from his National Letter of Intent. He reached the Final Four with three programs — Kentucky, Louisville and Providence — and won titles with the first two schools, though the latter one was vacated.
“I don’t think St. John’s would be any different,” he said. “Same plan, same strategy. But I think it’s all conjecture. I don’t think anything will happen.”