The St. John’s Red Storm will begin their 2026 Big East Tournament journey when they face the rival Providence Friars at noon ET on Thursday.
Leading up to that showdown, a huge update regarding the working relationship between St. John’s and legendary head coach Rick Pitino emerged.
St. John’s wants to lock Rick Pitino down before NCAA Tournament?
On Wednesday night, Roger Rubin of Newsday and Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media confirmed that St. John’s has offered Pitino a restructured contract that would make the 73-year-old the second-highest paid coach in the Big East behind only Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies.
When he accepted the St. John’s job in 2023, Pitino suggested that he was “going to give it three great years at St. John’s, see if we can turn the thing around, build it, and then after three years, make a decision of, does the future have upward mobility.” Since that time, the Johnnies have claimed the Big East regular-season and tournament championships for the 2024-25 season.
Last weekend, St. John’s became outright Big East regular-season champions in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. The Red Storm are entering the Big East Tournament with an overall record of 25-6 (18-2 in conference play).
How long could Rick Pitino keep coaching?
According to Rubin, St. John’s plans to rework the three remaining years of Pitino’s current contract. One source told Rubin that St. John’s wants “to make sure that [Pitino] finishes his career” with the university.
“Yes [they made an offer], but I haven’t signed it or seen it,” Pitino told Zagoria via a text message. While Pitino seems to be focusing on his team’s upcoming games, Rubin shared that the contract “could be finalized in the coming days.”
Last spring, the Red Storm suffered a disappointing 75-66 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. If the Johnnies are able to hold serve at Madison Square Garden through this week, they could once again be viewed as favorites to go on a noteworthy run in the upcoming Big Dance.
