Rick Pitino was named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press today, an honor he shares with Auburn’s Bruce Pearl. After accepting the award in San Antonio, he spoke with reporters and broke a little scheduling news regarding St. John’s and two of his former programs, Kentucky and Louisville.
Let’s start with Kentucky. Since Mark Pope took the job in Lexington a year ago, a potential series vs. St. John’s has reportedly been in the works. Both Pope and Pitino, his old coach, are eager to make it happen, but Kentucky’s scheduling obligations continue to get in the way. In December, Pope told Jon Rothstein he was “desperate” to bring Pitino and St. John’s to Rupp next season, which will be the 30th anniversary of the 1995-96 team’s national championship run. Pitino said today that Pope can’t make a regular-season series vs. St. John’s happen, but the Red Storm may come to Rupp Arena for an exhibition game.
“We may be going to Kentucky for an exhibition game,” Pitino told reporters, per C.L. Brown of the Courier-Journal. “We were hoping to go there for a regular game, but they can’t; they can’t get it done, unfortunately. We were hoping to do a home-and-home (series) with them.”
In January, the NCAA eased the rules to allow Division I teams to play up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year school, including other Division I teams. Previously, Division I vs. Division I exhibitions required a waiver, and the proceeds from the games had to be donated to charity. Now, schools can play whoever they want and decide for themselves how to share the revenue. The new rule also eliminates the requirement that preseason practice scrimmages be conducted in private and without official scoring. (Thank goodness, because that’s going to be one hot ticket!)
One team that will be playing St. John’s “for real”? Louisville, the program he coached from 2001-17. Pitino said St. John’s is finalizing a home-and-home series with the Cardinals, the first matchup taking place in Madison Square Garden early in the 2025-26 season. This will be Pitino’s first game vs. Louisville since he was fired amid the FBI investigation into the pay-for-play scandal.
“Right now, we’re negotiating with Louisville to bring them in very early in the season to play us,” Pitino said today. “After they signed the backcourt that they just signed, I’m thinking of canceling that proposal. They’re looking at their schedule to see if they could do it.”
I have doubts about Pitino following up on that game in the Yum Center — remember, he said he would only consider it if the school reconciled with former athletic director Tom Jurich — but maybe he’ll surprise us. After seeing him walk onto the Rupp Arena floor at Big Blue Madness and receive a huge ovation (and come on the KSR Pregame Show the next day with Matt Jones), I’ve accepted that anything is possible. Either way, his return to Rupp with St. John’s will be circled on the calendar, even if it’s just an exhibition.
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