Rick Pitino profusely apologized to St. John’s players for critical comments: ‘I’m at fault’
WASHINGTON — Rick Pitino offered a mea culpa.
For criticizing his players. For this disappointing season. For it all.
After three days in the news cycle for his comments following a loss to Seton Hall, the St. John’s coach started his postgame press conference Wednesday by apologizing.
“I said to my staff, any of the guys upset? They said, a couple of feelings are hurt,” Pitino said after the Johnnies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 90-85 win over Big East punching bag Georgetown at Capital One Arena. “I immediately went [to talk to] the team, and told them I absolutely love you guys, I would never, ever want to embarrass you. But it’s my bad; I’m at fault.”
After St. John’s lost Sunday night for the eighth time in 10 games, Pitino called this season “the most unenjoyable experience of my life.”
He singled out the physical shortcomings of several Johnnies and said St. John’s lost this season by not recruiting players that fit his system.
It created a firestorm on social media and became a national topic in the sports media world.
“I should never, ever mention a name. I’m a veteran coach. l tell every young coach in the business: Show class when you win; show class when you lose; give the other team credit,” said Pitino, who also apologized to any St. John’s fans that were upset by his comments. “I’ve been really, really frustrated this year for a lot of different reasons. But understand something: I recruited this man [Jordan Dingle], I recruited this man [RJ Luis]. My staff did not recruit these guys. It was all me. It was all me, and I’m really, really proud to have them. I totally apologize to them for doing that. I wasn’t ripping them. That wasn’t my intent. But words matter.”
He later added: “I told the team this, maybe seven, eight times this year: You’re not failing; I’m failing you. Because what wins and loses are the fundamentals.”
If the Red Storm players held any animosity towards Pitino, they didn’t show it.
Multiple players gave him a hug before the opening tip.
They started the game extremely well and avoided their second-half collapses of the last month to earn a narrow victory.
It did get close late.
Georgetown trailed by just three with 43.8 seconds left, but St. John’s beat the press and Luis threw down an emphatic slam. Joel Soriano followed with two free throws as the Johnnies snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jordan Dingle scored the Johnnies’ first nine points and led five players in double figures with 22. Luis added 19 and Daniss Jenkins had 15.
“To be honest, [the apology] did mean a lot. But all of us know Coach, we know how much he loves us and cares about us, and how much he cares about winning,” Dingle said. “I don’t think guys took it too much to heart. But there was a lot of talk about it, obviously. I think it brought us closer together as a unit.”
St. John’s (15-12, 7-9) led by 21 in the first half, but it couldn’t put away Georgetown. The Hoyas (8-18, 1-14) went on a 21-4 run and it was starting to look like so many of the Johnnies’ recent games that had gotten away after halftime.
But Dingle scored on consecutive possessions to settle St. John’s down and freshman Simeon Wilcher provided a spark off the bench, scoring seven points in as many second-half minutes. He spearheaded a 12-2 run that gave St. John’s a 17-point lead.
“Our motto in the timeouts was don’t play to lose, play to win,” Pitino said. “Don’t milk the clock. Go, score. … We kept [scoring] and that’s the key to winning a close game on the road.”
