Rick Pitino has formed a college basketball powerhouse with the St. John’s Red Storm in the Big East.
Pitino led St. John’s to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big East Tournament title for the first time since the 2000 college basketball season.
Advertisement
While the Red Storm ultimately suffered a loss to John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, after defeating Omaha, Pitino still received his flowers after the season.
Pitino was announced as the Herbert V. Hess Award winner.
“Congratulations to Coach Rick Pitino on winning this year’s Herbert V. Hess Award!” posted the official social media account of St. John’s.
Pitino was also previously named the Co-Coach of the Year winner in the Associated Press poll, sharing the accolade with Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl.
Pitino started coaching the St. John’s Red Storm in 2023 and has already established the program as one of the top in the Big East.
Advertisement
Before leading the Red Storm in 2023 and 2024, Pitino had already made a name for himself as one of the best coaches in college basketball history, coaching at Kentucky, Providence and Iona.
St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino.Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Last season, Pitino and his coaching staff were aided by Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. The top player in the conference finished the season with 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
While Luis entered the NCAA transfer portal after the season, Pitino has already built a powerhouse ready to continue making noise at St. John’s.
Related: Duke Reacts to Major Mike Krzyzewski Announcement on Tuesday
Related: St. John’s Transfer RJ Luis Turns Heads With GPA Under Head Coach Rick Pitino
