By John Jastremski
Let’s be real about something right out of the gate.
There haven’t been a whole lot of great coaching performances by the coaches of our teams over the past decade plus.
Yeah I can give you Tom Coughlin in 2011 leading the Giants to a Super Bowl or Tom Thibodeau resurrecting a dead Knicks franchise, but the examples aren’t littered with great examples in this town since 2010.
I’ve been doing content in this city since 2011 and I’ve lived here my entire life, so that should give this next statement even more perspective.
Rick Pitino’s job with St John’s is one of the best coaching jobs I have seen in my lifetime in New York Sports.
No exaggeration, no hyperbole.
Rick Pitino has brought a program that has been super irrelevant on the national stage for two decades to a place it has not been in a long, long time.
Last week was a party for everyone associated with the St Johns Red Storm basketball program.
After winning their first Big East regular season crown since the days of Lou Carnesecca, the Johnnies completed their first Big East Tournament crown since 2000.
Madison Square Garden was a sea of red for the Johnnie’s dominant second half against the Creighton Blue Jays.
The Red Storm fell behind in both the semi final on Friday night and Saturday’s Championship game, but the common theme in both games was the relentless, top notch defense that overwhelmed their opponents on the Garden Floor.
In a year in which the basketball community mourned the loss of the great Lou Carnesecca, Pitino honored his legacy in the best way imaginable.
He won and he won big.
A sense of accomplishment, pride and good feelings are all over the Red Storm program at the moment.
However, the work is not done.
The NCAA Tournament begins this Thursday and St Johns has a chance to make some more history.
The program has not won an NCAA Tournament game in 25 years.
They are a 2 seed taking on Omaha. The streak of futility must end.
Newsflash, it will. Barring disaster.
Regardless of what happens, the next few weeks, this season will go down as an all timer for the St John’s program.
It’s already the year that brought the program back to life.
There are more memories to make, can Rick Pitino work his magic in the NCAA Tournament like he has done so many times throughout his illustrious coaching career?
We are about to find out…
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network every Sunday & Thursday on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY.
