NEW YORK CITY − You can add Hall-of-Famer Rick Pitino to the list of people skeptical about Xavier’s chances in the Big East during the 2025-26 season.
Richard Pitino, formally introduced as Xavier’s head coach in April, was ready for the questions about his dad at Big East Media Day in Manhattan Oct. 21, now that the two are in the same conference.
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“This is my 14th year doing it. No offense to you guys, they are not very original questions,” Richard laughed. “I understand you guys have a job to do. It is unique. Being in a league with him, that’s different. It’s also cool.”
Richard Pitino on being a Big East head coach: “There’s an added pressure that you put on yourself to perform in this building (Madison Square Garden). I know how special it is. It had a lot to do with me taking the job.”
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The elder Pitino also fielded a few questions about his son joining the Big East.
“He’s gonna have a difficult season,” Rick said. “That’s to be expected when you have 13 new players and you’re just starting out. The good thing is he’s at Xavier − great basketball tradition, great arena, great city.”
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Rick compared Richard’s situation at Xavier to his first season at St. John’s. In 2024, Pitino led the Johnnies to a 20-13 record (11-9 Big East) but were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s was picked to repeat as Big East Champions in the preseason coaches’ poll. Xavier was picked to finish eighth. St. John’s had five players named to preseason all-league teams, including Big East Preseason Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor. Xavier was not represented in the preseason all-league selections.
“If you look at the all-league selections, you won’t see any Xavier players. It’s gonna take some time for him to recruit the talent like these two (Ejiofor and Oziyah Sellers),” Rick said. “I hope he has great success. I hope he kills it. It won’t happen this year, though.”
Rick, who encouraged his son to take the Xavier job when it became available, is happy to have Richard in the same time zone.
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“I was joking before that, God forbid if one of us in our family did not watch every single second of his games and we watched all of St. John’s,” Rick laughed. “Now he’s on the eastern time zone. That’s great. Great to have him in the league. I’m his biggest fan.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rick Pitino says son, Richard, Xavier will have ‘difficult season’
