Rick Pitino: My Gamers Received St. John’s ‘Out of Hibernation’

St. John’s is most definitely “back” under Rick Pitino, but the head coach of the No. 13 team in the country wants his players to grasp the magnitude of their success. 

“What they [my players] do not perceive as a result of they’re younger — they’re very happy with their accomplishments — however what they do not notice is that St. John’s within the 60s, 70s and 80s dominated the East Coast. It was a dominant basketball group from [Joe] Lapchick to [Lou] Carnesecca. After which they went into hibernation like a bear for some time, after which these guys obtained them out of hibernation,” Pitino mentioned in his postgame press convention on Friday evening after the Purple Storm’s 78-68 win over Seton Corridor within the semifinal spherical of the Large East Event. 

“They do not notice how good St. John’s was again within the day. They had been an incredible, nice basketball group. They dominated the East Coast.”

Pitino is in his third season on the helm for St. John’s, which struggled previous to the Corridor of Fame coach’s arrival. From the top of the 1999-2000 season to Pitino’s 2023 arrival, the Purple Storm made the NCAA Event simply 4 occasions and by no means escaped the primary weekend of the match. Granted, they had been eradicated within the second spherical of the match final season after claiming a No. 2 seed.

Underneath Lou Carnesecca (1965-66 to 1969-70 and 1973-74 to 1991-92), St. John’s made the NCAA Event 18 occasions, highlighted by reaching the 1985 Nationwide Semifinal spherical and successful two Large East Tournaments (1983 and 1986).

As for Friday’s evening recreation, St. John’s led Seton Corridor by as many as 19 factors with 9:56 remaining within the second half. In whole, the Purple Storm went 24-of-30 from the free throw line.

Zuby Ejiofor, the 2025-26 Large East Participant of the 12 months, completed with a game-high 20 factors and two blocks for St. John’s; Dillon Mitchell had 13 factors, six rebounds, 5 assists, two steals and one block; Bryce Hopkins had 13 factors, seven rebounds and 4 assists; Joson Sanon had 15 factors — together with a trio of 3-pointers — and two steals in 22 minutes.

This season marked the second consecutive 12 months that St. John’s went 18-2 within the Large East, gained the common season convention title and reached the Large East Championship Sport. Final 12 months, the Purple Storm defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles within the title recreation. This 12 months, they’re going to face the No. 6-ranked UConn Huskies within the title recreation (Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports activities app).

St. John’s and UConn cut up their regular-season sequence, with the Purple Storm successful at house on Feb. 6, 81-72, and the Huskies returning the favor by blowing out their Large East rival at house on Feb. 25, 72-40.