Iona Basketball

Iona men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino is on the move after three seasons with the Gaels.

The 70-year-old has agreed to become the next head coach of the St. John's Red Storm, the school announced Monday. The deal is for six years, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Pitino said in a statement:

"One of my great coaching memories was having the distinct privilege of coaching against Lou Carnesecca and St John's, a Hall of Fame coach and historic program that I have always respected. It is surreal to now have this opportunity to bring St John's back to prominence. I'm honored, humbled and grateful to Fr. Shanley, Bill Janetschek and Mike Cragg for making me feel so special."

The news comes after ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello reported Monday that Pitino had met with St. John's officials and that the two sides were in "serious discussions" to make him the Red Storm's next head coach.

Pitino will replace Mike Anderson, who was fired as the team's head coach on March 10 following a disappointing 18-15 season. The Red Storm didn't make the NCAA tournament in any of Anderson's four seasons at the helm.

In his three seasons at Iona, the Gaels won the MAAC tournament and made the NCAA tournament twice. He led the team to a 27-8 finish during the 2022-23 season and a 64-22 record overall.

During his tenure with Kentucky from 1989 to 1997, the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament in all six seasons they were eligible, making three Final Four appearances and winning an NCAA title during the 1995-96 campaign.

Following his stint with Kentucky, Pitino coached the Boston Celtics for parts of four seasons before ending up with Louisville from 2001 to 2017. He led the team to 13 NCAA tournament appearances, including three Final Fours and a national championship. He was fired in October 2017 following a recruiting scandal.

St. John's now hopes Pitino can revive the Red Storm and bring the team back to prominence in 2023 and beyond.

Two days after Iona fell to UConn in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, head coach Rick Pitino reportedly could be on the verge of finding a new home.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello, Pitino has met with officials from St. John's, and the two sides are in "serious discussions" for him to become the team's next head coach. Thamel and Borzello noted that "the meeting was viewed as productive," as Pitino "laid out his vision for the program."

Pitino is reportedly the "primary target" of St. John's, which became free to engage him in discussions when the Gaels were bounced from March Madness. The school fired Mike Anderson on March 10 following a 7-13 campaign.

In terms of major-conference schools, Pitino most recently made his mark as head coach of Louisville from 2001 to 2017, leading the team to three Final Fours and a national championship. His involvement in a recruiting scandal led to his dismissal, and he spent some time coaching in Greece before being hired by Iona in March 2020.

The 70-year-old, who has also coached at Boston University, Providence and Kentucky, has coached the Gaels to a 64-22 record with two NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons.

A native New Yorker, Pitino would instantly breathe new life into a St. John's program that hasn't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2019.

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.

Iona men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino told reporters that he isn't certain whether his time with the Gaels is over after they fell to UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday.

St. John's and Texas Tech reportedly have interest in Pitino, per CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported March 10 that St. John's was set to look at Pitino as its top candidate to replace Mike Anderson, with whom the university parted ways after the regular season.

In recent days, Pitino has cast doubt that he will leave and noted he would only depart Iona for a "special place."

Pitino began his head coaching career as the interim boss at Hawai'i in 1976. He later guided Boston and Providence before spending eight years with Kentucky, winning the 1995-96 national championship. Following four years as the Boston Celtics head coach, Pitino took over at Louisville, winning another national title in 2012-13.

But his Cardinals tenure, from 2001-02 to 2016-17, included an NCAA investigation into allegations that assistant coach Andre McGee paid for strippers to perform at parties attended by players and recruits from 2010 to 2014, with one former player saying he had sex with one of the dancers and that this was paid for by McGee. Louisville removed itself from postseason contention in 2015-16 amid the investigation, and the governing body charged Pitino with failure to monitor. He was suspended for the first five ACC games of 2017-18, and the NCAA vacated the Cardinals' 2012 Final Four appearance and 2013 national championship, among other penalties.

In 2017, the Cardinals were among a number of teams investigated for bribery. Pitino was fired for cause that year, but that was changed to a resignation after he filed a lawsuit against the University of Louisville Athletic Association.

The NCAA did not penalize Pitino, which he noted to reporters Friday (h/t Matt Norlander of CBS Sports).

"I was totally exonerated," he said. "... For five years they put me in the outhouse because they [the NCAA] couldn't get their stuff together. ... I really have no idea what the future may bring."

Pitino got another shot with Iona in 2020, and the Gaels have won two MAAC regular-season titles and two MAAC tournament titles and made two NCAA tournament appearances.

Pitino would have his work cut out for him at St. John's, which has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2000 and plays in the tough Big East.

The same goes for Texas Tech, which just went 5-13 in Big 12 play and has an opening at head coach after Mark Adams resigned after he made racially insensitive remarks.

But the 70-year-old Pitino has proved his coaching prowess time and again and could turn the team around.

Whether he leaves for St. John's remains to be seen, but for now, Pitino is the Iona coach.

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.

At 70 years old, Iona Gaels head coach Rick Pitino doesn't plan on leaving the sidelines any time soon, telling reporters at the NCAA men's basketball tournament that he hopes to continue coaching for at least another 10 years.

"Well, I'm physically fit and mentally I think I still have it," Pitino said Thursday. "But my wife always says, 'If you want to make God laugh, make a plan.' I think you just take it one year at a time. Now, my desire would be to coach that long."

Pitino later added that he'd love to coach for as many as 12 more years, "but I'll take six to seven." He explained that his time away from basketball refueled his love for his craft.

"Really, the two years I was out of coaching was really the most miserable two years of my life because I missed it so much because I love teaching, I love coaching, I love motivating - everything about it, I missed it terribly," he said.

Pitino was the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals from 2001 to 2017, leading the program to three Final Fours and a national championship. He was placed on administrative leave before his dismissal for his involvement in a recruiting scandal in which players allegedly were paid to play for the Cardinals.

After leaving Louisville, Pitino went to Greece in Dec. 2018 to coach at Panathinaikos before returning to college basketball as Iona head coach in March 2020. He has since led the Gaels to a 64-21 record in three seasons and two NCAA tournament appearances. The 13th-seeded Gaels will face fourth-seeded UConn in a first-round game on Friday.

Pitino has been linked to recent head-coach openings at St. John's and Georgetown, but he noted that he feels a special level of commitment to Iona.

"The thing you have to look at is my players don't leave unless they just can't play at this level," he said. "They came for player development. They didn't come for any other reason other than player development. ... So that's really important to me as well. I look at that as the No. 1 factor in my life. So to answer your question that would be honest, it's going to take a special place for me to consider leaving."

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.

In light of their recent head coaching vacancies, St. John's and Texas Tech are vetting Iona's Rick Pitino to head up their programs, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein.

St. John's parted ways with coach Mike Anderson Friday after four seasons with the team while Mark Adams stepped down as coach of the Red Raiders after he was suspended for making racially insensitive comments.

Pitino, 70, was hired by Iona in March 2020, and he's led the Gaels to two regular-season MAAC championships and an NCAA tournament appearance.

Rothstein said St. John's began looking into Pitino as a potential head coaching candidate a few weeks ago and has made the former national champion its primary target.

While Texas Tech has had more success over the last decade, St. John's would give Pitino the chance to make a return to the Big East, the conference where he first made a name for himself as the coach at Providence from 1985-87.

In the 1986-87 season he led the Friars to a 25-9 record and an appearance in the Final Four, just the program's second-ever appearance.

St. John's was decent under Anderson but the program never reached the heights once expected of the Big East giants. He lost at least 15 games in three of his four seasons with the Red Storm.

After leading Texas Tech to a 27-10 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16 last season—his first as head coach—Adams didn't find the same success in 2022-23. He went just 16-15 before his suspension.

Iona head coach Rick Pitino removed himself from consideration for the Maryland head coaching vacancy Wednesday, saying he's committed to the Gaels program.

Pitino posted a statement on Twitter amid heavy speculation the Terrapins were making a strong push for him after Mark Turgeon stepped down in December:

Turgeon posted a 226-116 record across 10-plus seasons with the Terps, but he reached the conclusion it was time to step aside after "several in-depth conversations" with athletic director Damon Evans early in the 2021-22 campaign.

"I have always preached that Maryland Basketball is bigger than any one individual," Turgeon said. "My departure will enable a new voice to guide the team moving forward."

Danny Manning, a former college basketball standout at Kansas who previously led the Tulsa and Wake Forest programs, took over at Maryland on an interim basis after being hired as an assistant in April.

USC's Andy Enfield, Providence's Ed Cooley and St. Bonaventure's Mark Schmidt are among the other coaches linked to the Terps' vacancy.

Pitino is in his second year at Iona and is building a strong foundation with a 36-11 record, including a 16-2 mark in conference play this season to sit atop the MAAC standings.

It's his first NCAA coaching job since being fired by Louisville in 2017 amid a federal investigation into corruption within college basketball, which ultimately led to 10 arrests by the FBI. Pitino didn't face any criminal charges in the case.

The 69-year-old New York City native spent two seasons with Panathinaikos in Greece before returning stateside to lead the Iona staff.

Pitino owns an 806-282 career record at the NCAA level with stops at Hawai'i, Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and now Iona. He's captured two national championships, the first with the Wildcats in 1996 and the second with the Cardinals in 2013, though the Cards later vacated the latter title.

His success at the highest levels of college basketball with Kentucky and Louisville is sure to garner continued interest from top programs, but he seems content with the Gaels.

In February, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog reported Pitino was in discussions with Iona about signing a potential lifetime contract.

For now, the UMass product is likely focused on trying to help the Gaels earn an NCAA tournament bid, which may require winning the MAAC tournament next week.

Will the Iona Gaels have a meeting with the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday? Iona head coach Rick Pitino wants to make it happen. 

After both schools had their weekend games canceled because of COVID-19 outbreaks for the opposing teams, Pitino tagged the Kentucky men's basketball program in a tweet to see if they were interested in a Saturday matchup. 

He also offered up a contingency plan if the Gaels fail to find an opponent for this weekend. 

Iona was set to face No. 16 Seton Hall in the Gotham Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on Saturday before the Pirates were put in a COVID-19 pause on Thursday. 

Kentucky, meanwhile, was set to face Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday before the game was called off because of positive COVID-19 tests within the Buckeyes' program. 

Iona and Kentucky have met just six times dating back to 1977. However, they haven't played each other since 2005. The Wildcats have won all six matchups.  

The Gaels are 9-2 this season, while the Wildcats are 7-2. 

Hiring legendary coach Rick Pitino is paying big dividends on the court for Iona.

The Gaels upset No. 10 Alabama 72-68 on Thursday, becoming the first MAAC program to earn a win over a team in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll, per ESPN.com. The conference had been 0-119.

Alabama held a slim 33-29 lead at halftime and didn't trail until Nelly Junior Joseph hit a pair of free throws for Iona with 5:34 left in the game. Elijah Joiner put the Gaels ahead 69-65 with a three-pointer at the 1:17 mark, only for Jaden Shackelford to connect from long range on the other end.

The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to at least tie the game inside the final 20 seconds, but Berrick JeanLouis blocked a Jahvon Quinerly layup attempt. Joseph collected the defensive rebound and hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Five Iona players scored in double figures. Joseph had a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds), and Walter Clayton Jr. chipped in with 15 points off the bench.

Shackelford had a game-high 19 points but shot just 6-of-17 from the field. He hauled in 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Pitino wasn't jettisoned by Louisville in 2017 because of the Cardinals' results. He later admitted he "deserved to be fired" as the program was ensnared in the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball.

It looked like that might be the end for the 69-year-old as a college basketball coach.

But Pitino guided Iona to a 12-6 record and an NCAA tournament berth in 2020-21. In his second year, the Gaels are 6-0 with a ranked win under their belt.

Should Iona play its way back into the Big Dance, the Hall of Fame coach might put himself on the radar of a prominent school looking to fill a vacancy on the sideline.

After leading Iona through a season marred by COVID-19 to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, then to the NCAA tournament as a No. 15 seed—where the team fell to No. 2 Alabama on Saturday—legendary NCAA basketball coach Rick Pitino said he has no plans to return to "big time" programs and said he is "in heaven right now" with the Gaels. 

"It's no longer about me trying to move up any ladders, make more money," he said (h/t Adam Rittenberg of ESPN). "I'm at a great place in my life. I can coach six, seven more years, God willing, just try to make young men better, try to make the program reach heights it's never reached. That's all I have planned. It's a great place to be." 

This season was Pitino's return to the collegiate ranks after he was fired from Louisville in the midst of a federal fraud investigation in 2017.

His comments come as Indiana is seeking a new head coach after a 12-15 season that resulted in the firing of Archie Miller. 

While at Louisville, Pitino won the 2013 NCAA championship and brought the team to three Final Fours and six Elite Eights. Before he joined the school in 2001, he led Kentucky to a title in 1996 and reached three Final Fours and four Elite Eights through eight seasons. 

Pitino, who got his start at Hawaii and Boston University before heading to Providence, where he reached his first tournament in 1986-87, spent last season in Greece, coaching Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague. 

"I want to take a smaller school, like a Providence, like an Iona, a small school and try to make it big," Pitino said. "But I wanted no part of any of that other, I had enough of that. It turned me off, to be quite honest with you, in a lot of different areas. I now don't have to look over my shoulder and see who I'm going to trust, who I'm not going to trust." 

For all the success Pitino's team had in his first year with the program, he thinks the group will improve in 2021-22 in a season that he believes has the potential to lay the foundation for more tournament appearances for the Gaels—including the opportunity to join the bracket as an at-large bid. 

"We just got to improve the program, take the next step," he said. "We will take the next step. There's no doubt in my mind that Iona is going to be a force to be reckoned with down the road."