Rick Pitino is a win away from leading St. John’s to a Big East regular season and tournament title.
The Red Storm weren’t horrible under Mike Anderson, but they seem stuck in a holding pattern.
Pitino was ready to return to big-time college basketball after being exiled for being the unquestioned leader of a renegade Louisville program. Both Pitino and St. John’s knew the timing was too good not to team up and bring back college basketball excitement to Madison Square Garden.
Another Big East team finds themselves in the same place St. John’s was two years ago.
On Saturday, Villanova fired Kyle Neptune.
Replacing Jay Wright would always be difficult, but replacing him with someone relatively inexperienced almost ensured that the Wildcats were at least two hires from getting the best coach for the job.
That’s not a knock on Neptune. Time will tell, but Neptune’s next head coaching job could lead him to another power conference job. An opportunity that he could be more prepared for.
That leaves Villanova with its most important hire since Jay Wright walked through those doors.
If they miss, it could set the program back another five years. If they hit, it could lead to a St. John’s type turnaround.
It’s the right time for Villanova and Richard Pitino to create the magic that Rick Pitino and St. John’s have worked.
Pitino took Minnesota to two NCAA tournaments and won 22+ games in three of his eight seasons.
In his four seasons at New Mexico, he has led the Lobos to 22+ wins in the last three seasons with back-to-back 26-win seasons.
Forget the Boise State loss in the Mountain West tournament, this was one of Pitino’s best coaching jobs. He’s in his 13th season and has proven he can recruit and win on all levels.
Give him an NIL war chest, and he can modernize Villanova, who will have to compete with recruits from Baltimore and Philadelphia as long as Kevin Willard is at Maryland.
The excitement at Finneran Pavillion has dimmed for the last three seasons, but just like Madison Square Garden, the fix lies in a Pitino.
