Had any other head coach reached out to him, Peyton Siva insisted he would’ve remained at Louisville.
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This was different.
This was Rick Pitino, his former coach and a giant in the world of coaching.
Siva couldn’t turn him down.
“It was honestly one of the most difficult decisions I made in my life, making the call to Coach [Pat] Kelsey, someone who gave me an opportunity in this coaching world,” he told The Post in a phone interview, after agreeing to leave his job as an assistant coach at Louisville for the same position at St. John’s. “It was tough. It was tough not only to make that call, but make the call to leave Louisville. A couple of sleepless nights. But I think it was the right decision and the best decision for my family and myself.”
Louisville Cardinals guard Peyton Siva (3) celebrates in the first half against the Oregon Ducks during their Midwest Regional NCAA men’s basketball game in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 29, 2013. REUTERS
The 35-year-old Siva was a star point guard at Louisville under Pitino from 2009-13.
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He was a two-time Big East Tournament MVP who helped the Cardinals win the 2013 national championship.
After a long and productive career overseas, Siva returned to coaching, and spent the previous two seasons at Louisville under Kelsey, first as the director of player development and then as an assistant.
Recently, Pitino called his old point guard, expressing interest in him joining his staff.
St. John’s had an opening after Greg Youncofski left for Xavier.
“Obovisly, the biggest thing was getting a chance to work under Coach Pitino as a coach,” Siva said. “I think Coach is top three, if not the best college coach of all time. To get a chance to work under him would be amazing, especially breaking into this coaching world and breaking into this coach profession, there’s no one better to work for and to work under and to learn from.”
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Siva is very familar with St. John’s associate head coach and general manager Steve Masiello.
He was on staff at Louisville the first two years of Siva’ college career.
Louisvilles Peyton Siva coaches his team against Virginia in the KFC Yum! Center. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Siva joins a program that is coming off of back-to-back Big East regular season and postseason titles, as well as a Sweet 16 berth.
The Johnnies have high expectations for next year, after bringing back Ian Jackson and Ruben Prey, and adding top transfer Tounde Yessoufou of Baylor along with highly regarded international prospects Quinn Ellis and Babacar Sane.
“I’m very excited to join St. John’s and the staff and work under Coach. I watched a lot of the players they recruited, I’m very familiar with a lot of their games,” Siva said. “It’s a winning program. Coach has done a great job of getting them back in the limelight. What I can bring is my energy, my expertise, my knowledge from my playing days with him, but also my playing days over in Europe, and they have a lot of European guys who have come over to the states.”
Last November, Siva was inducted into the Louisville Athletics Hall of Fame alongside teammate Russ Smith.
He also opened a “Shoot 360” basketball training facility in Louisville in 2023.
