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Rick Pitino

Rick Pitino (born September 18, 1952)

Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: St. John’s Red Storm
Current conference: Big East Conference
Hawaii record: 2-4 (.333)
Boston University record: 91-51 (.641)
Providence record: 42-23 (.646)
Kentucky record: 219-50 (.814)
Louisville record: 293-140 (.677) **
Iona record: 64-22 (.744)
St. John’s record: 20-13 (.606)
Overall record^: 731-303 (.707) **

Career Accomplishments:

Awards:

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2023-present St. John’s
2020-2023 Iona
2019-2020 Panathinaikos B.C.
2001-2017 Louisville
1997-2001 Boston Celtics
1989-1997 Kentucky
1987-1989 New York Knicks
1985-1987 Providence
1983-1985 New York Knicks (asst)
1978-1983 Boston University
1976-1978 Syracuse (asst)
1976 Hawaii (interim HC)
1974-1976 Hawaii (asst)

Rick Pitino Facts

  • Richard Andrew Pitino
  • Born September 18, 1952
  • Hometown: Long Island, New York
  • Alma Mater: University of Massachusetts (BA, 1974)
  • Born in New York City, Pitino was raised on Long Island in Bayville, NY, where he was captain of the basketball team at St. Dominic HS
    • Went on to play for the UMass Minutemen under head basketball coach Jack Leaman
    • Teammates included NBA star Julius Erving, AL Cy Young winner Mike Flanagan and collegiate coach Al Skinner
  • Started his career at Hawaii, spending most of two seasons as an assistant under Bruce O’Neil before serving as interim HC for six games (2-4)
  • Spent two seasons as an assistant to long-time Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, the latter’s first two years as head coach
  • Hired in 1978 to be the head coach at Boston University, winning 91 games in five seasons
  • Spent two years assisting Hubie Brown with the New York Knicks in between head coaching jobs
  • Won 42 games in two seasons as the head coach at Providence, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1987
  • Returned to the Knicks in 1987, going 90-74 in two seasons as the team’s head coach
  • Served as head coach at Kentucky for eight seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of the six seasons they were eligible
  • Hired by an NBA team again in 1997, this time coaching the Boston Celtics
    • Went 102-146 in three and a half seasons as head coach, missing the playoffs in all three seasons he completed
  • Hired in March 2001 to take over as the head coach of Kentucky’s main rival, the Louisville Cardinals
    • Coached at Louisville for 16 seasons across four conferences (C-USA, Big East, AAC, ACC)
    • Reached the NCAA Tournament 13 times, with three trips to the Final Four and the 2013 NCAA National Championship
      • All of Louisville’s victories and NCAA Tournament results from the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons were vacated by the NCAA amidst a “pay-for-play” scandal with Adidas and a number of other programs
      • Came on the heels of another scandal at Louisville, involving escorts being used for recruiting during on-campus visits
      • This was the first time in NCAA history that violations caused a NCAA Tournament title to be vacated
    • The FBI investigation, which did not result in any criminal charges against Pitino but did lead to four NCAA assistant coaches being indicted, would ultimately lead to Pitino’s firing with cause in October 2017
  • Pitino is the only head coach to lead three different programs to the Final Four (Providence, Kentucky & Louisville)
  • Served as the head coach of the Puerto Rican national team at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championships
  • Noted for his extensive coaching tree (see below), as a number of his former players and assistants have gone on to be head coaches across a variety of levels of basketball
  • Finalized a deal in December 2018 to become the head coach of Panathinaikos B.C., a Greek team based in Athens
    • Led the team to a Greek league championship in 2019; coached the team again for the shortened 2020 season
    • Announced in November 2019 that he would become the head coach of Greece’s National Basketball Team
  • Hired in March 2020 to return to college basketball and serve as the head coach at Iona
    • In a COVID-shortened season, the Gaels won the 2021 MAAC Tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
      • With that, Pitino became just the third D-I head coach (joining Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith) to go to the NCAA Tournament with five different programs
    • In year two (2021-22), Pitino led the Gaels to an outright MAAC title; Pitino was named MAAC COY
    • Pitino led Iona back to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 by way of a second MAAC Tournament crown
  • In March 2023, Pitino decided to leave Iona to become the head coach at St. John’s back in the Big East
  • Along with his wife, Joanne, has five children and six grandchildren
    • The Pitinos had a son tragically pass away at the age of six months in 1987 from congenital heart failure
    • Son, Richard, is also a collegiate head basketball coach (see below)

Rick Pitino Coaching Tree

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only

** Listed records and accomplishments for this coach do not include wins or appearances later vacated by the NCAA