St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino Says His Players Got The Team ‘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] don’t understand because they’re young — they’re very proud of their accomplishments — but what they don’t realize is that St. John’s in the 60s, 70s and 80s dominated the East Coast,” Pitino said in his postgame press conference on Friday. “It was a dominant basketball team from [Joe] Lapchick to [Lou] Carnesecca. And then they went into hibernation like a bear for a while, and then these guys got them out of hibernation. “They don’t realize how good St. John’s was back in the day. They were a great, great basketball team. They dominated the East Coast.” Pitino is in his third season at the helm for St. John’s, which struggled prior to the Hall of Fame coach’s arrival. From the end of the 1999-2000 season to Pitino’s 2023 arrival, the Red Storm made the NCAA Tournament just four times and never escaped the first weekend of the tournament. Granted, they were eliminated in the second round of the tournament last season after claiming a No. 2 seed. Under Lou Carnesecca (1965-66 to 1969-70 and 1973-74 to 1991-92), St. John’s made the NCAA Tournament 18 times, highlighted by reaching the 1985 semifinal round and winning two Big East Tournaments (1983 and 1986). St. John’s advanced to the Big East title game after a 78-68 win over Seton Hall in the semifinals on Friday night. The Johnnies led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half and went 24-for-30 from the free-throw line. Zuby Ejiofor, the 2025-26 Big East Player of the Year, finished with a game-high 20.0 points and 2.0 blocks for St. John’s; Dillon Mitchell had 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks; Bryce Hopkins had 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists; Joson Sanon had 15.0 points — including a trio of 3s — and 2.0 steals. This season marked the second consecutive year that St. John’s went 18-2 in the Big East, won the regular season conference title and reached the Big East Championship Game. Last year, the Red Storm defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles in the title game. This year, they’ll face the No. 6-ranked UConn Huskies in the title game (Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). St. John’s and UConn split their regular-season series, with the Red Storm winning at home on Feb. 6, 81-72, and the Huskies returning the favor by blowing out their Big East rival at home on Feb. 25, 72-40.