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00:00Time now for our first ever Gaston Shine Time. This interview is presented by No Bull. For
00:06people who train hard, compete harder, and bring that same relentless mindset every single day.
00:12It's a St. John's sequel for the first time in 40 years. The St. John's Red Storm have won
00:20back-to-back Big East regular season titles. We have won back-to-back championships in two
00:26different teams, and that's not easy to do. I'm real proud of St. John's, very proud for the
00:31players. It was a great way to enjoy this night. The players are really fired up. They're very,
00:35very excited. Joining us is our first ever guest here on Shine Time, the Hall of Famer,
00:43the outstanding head coach at St. John's, my guy, the great Rick Pitino. Coach, how are you?
00:49Appreciate the time. Thanks for having me. I'm doing great.
00:53Listen, I think that your squad this year is incredible. One of the best teams in college
00:58hoops, and your Johnnies went 16-17 down the stretch. Feels like a lifetime ago you started
01:044-3. What changed? What has impressed you the most about your squad?
01:09You know, every year I think it's going to be difficult to be terrific early on. First year
01:15we had 11 new players. This year we have nine new players. Next year we'll have 8 or 9 again.
01:21So it's difficult to really mesh early in the year. You can schedule easy and really not tell
01:30anything about your team. Or you can schedule difficult as we did early in the season. Play
01:34great competition. See where your blemishes are after playing them and then work at those.
01:40The one loss down the stretch was UConn. It was ugly and you weren't happy post game and
01:45it was vintage Rick Pitino. I loved every single second of it. But wow, did your team respond
01:52in the final three including destroying Villanova the game after UConn? What was the lesson you wanted
01:59your team to learn and what did you learn about your team?
02:03Well, we had a great walk through the day of the game. Great practice leading up to it. We were
02:09prepared. But they were better at every phase of the game. They were hurting from the loss at home
02:16and they came out with great fire. The crowd was incredible. And I was very soft-spoken in the locker
02:23room. And I said, let's talk tomorrow. And the next day came and all I said to them was,
02:29I didn't, it's the first time in three years I didn't watch the film. I said, but you know,
02:34we when I was at Louisville, we lost to Providence by 31 and went to a Final Four. And we
02:40lost to
02:40Notre Dame by 32 and went to an Elite Eight. So I said, throw the game out. I said, the
02:47only thing
02:47you can do to make up for that loss is beat Villanova. And they went out and did a great
02:52job against Villanova. Listen, terrific job by you, the players. And obviously,
02:57Zuby Ejiofor, I mean, he is unreal. Coach, I just, I love watching him play. I mean, his work ethic,
03:03his intensity, his defense. He's so reliable on offense, unselfish. Just named the defensive
03:10player of the year in the Big East and deservedly so. How would you describe how special he is? What
03:16makes him so great and enjoy the coach? Well, obviously you want your players to reach their
03:21potential. And when he came in, his hands weren't great. Wasn't a terrific shooter. Wasn't a really
03:27good passer. Now he leads the team in assists, rebounds, scoring, and blocked shots. He's the
03:33defensive player of the year, first team all Big East. And I think tomorrow he's going to win
03:38Scholar Athlete of the Year, possibly, as well as Player of the Year. So it's been quite a trip for
03:45Zuby.
03:46Your smile when you started describing how, you know, he didn't have those hands. I mean,
03:51it's incredible. And I know the way you coach and you help your players. And let's get into this,
03:56because I think he should be unequivocally the Big East Player of the Year. He would become the
04:01first Johnny player to be the Player of the Year and the defensive player in the same season.
04:05Only seven players in conference history have done that. The last one was Josh Hart in 2017.
04:12So the floor is yours. What's the case for him as the Player of the Year in the conference?
04:18Well, I'd be honest with you. He was the unanimous first team pick. So I think he's,
04:24it's not announced yet, but I think he's definitely going to win it. So, you know,
04:29he's just been remarkable. Great leader. You know, he coaches in the timeouts
04:34more than any assistant coach. Wow. When I'm done speaking, he says things. And he says,
04:41don't let up, win this next four minute segment. Defensively, you have to talk better. He's always
04:46got a great message at the end of every timeout. Every level, you've been a coach. Defense is a
04:53staple. Best defense in the Big East, 14th in certain metrics in the country. What makes this
04:59version so good on defense? Well, we've gotten better each week. Last year's team was great defensively,
05:07because we had Qadari Richmond at the point and we could switch the five onto the one and the one
05:13onto the five. And even Davon Smith at six feet was physically tough. We can't do that, obviously,
05:20with Dylan Darling or Ian Jackson, but we still can switch two, three and four or five without any
05:28problem at all. When you could switch like that, it helps your defense. Coach, you just referenced him.
05:33Steve Serby in the Post just had a terrific Q&A on Sunday with Dylan Darling. How would you describe
05:39what he's brought to the team this year? Well, Dylan is, he had to get adjusted
05:46to the Big Sky to the Big East with physical play is much more prevalent. And he's just,
05:53we call them big bells because he has them. And we now have an award that we, I ring a
06:00church bell at
06:01the end. And we give the big bells award to the guy who made a big difference in that game.
06:07And Ruben
06:08Prey won it against Seton Hall. Zuby won it the time before and Big Bells has won it twice.
06:15Listen, you reference it at the beginning of our conversation like it was just matter of fact,
06:20you know, from this year to next year to last year to this year, you really are the master of
06:26the transfer
06:27portal. And you know, a lot of coaches, you know, and all different college sports can complain about
06:31things. How do you do it so well? What's the key? Well, it is, it is really difficult because you're
06:38watching all types of film in a very short window. You're speaking to agents. You're not sure who's
06:44going in the portal. So you've got to get three or four at each position. Then you've got to understand
06:49the work ethic. That's, that's the number one key. Is he willing to pay the price to work?
06:55And if he is, then you have a good chance. You know, often players will ask me,
07:00can you get me to the NBA level? And I always say, absolutely not. I can get you to reach
07:05your
07:05potential. If that's good enough for the NBA, they will decide that. And it's up to the Knicks. It's up
07:13to the Celtics. It's up to the San Antonio Spurs. They determine whether you're a draft choice,
07:17but we will get you to reach your potential. There's nothing like the Big East tournaments
07:22at Madison Square Garden. It's just an amazing New York sporting event. How do you describe
07:28the ambiance and also for St. John's the significance? Well, let me say this. It's, it's, it's
07:38last year, it was as good a feeling as, as I've ever had as a basketball coach. And we won
07:43at
07:44Louisville back-to-back Big East championships. But it was never as good as St. John's because
07:49there was such a drought, such a long time. There was such happiness amongst the administration,
07:56amongst the student body, amongst the fans, that it was great to be part of that.
08:01I've always been in the opinion they should move the one seed to a night game instead of noon,
08:06just a little nitpick. Where do you stand on that? I'm curious, especially as a one seed.
08:12You know, I haven't thought about that, but that's a great point. You're probably right.
08:16I think being at the 630 game for your fans, it would be better for the fans. I really,
08:21I like it as far as the team is concerned playing at 12 o'clock. From a scouting standpoint,
08:26it helps us prepare for the next day. We have more time.
08:30If you win the Big East, what seed do you feel like St. John's should get in the NCAA tournament?
08:37Probably a four seed. I think that's realistic.
08:41Yeah, I agree. And frankly, I think you're a four seed anyway, but I think a four seed makes sense.
08:46How would you characterize the play of the Big East Conference this year
08:49in terms of the overall competition and getting you guys ready for the NCAA tournament?
08:56Well, it's a tough conference in terms of the coaches do an unbelievable job of preparation,
09:02but the conference is down. There's no question about it. Certainly, Villanova is up. DePaul is up,
09:09but Providence on any given night, they've got as much talent as any Big East team and they can beat
09:16you, but the conference is definitely down. You know, we need Georgetown to come back. We need
09:22Providence to come back. We need Butler and some of the other teams, Xavier, to come back.
09:29We need it. And look, let's face it. There are five or six teams in the conference spending
09:35$10 million on the NIL. And then there's the Shaheen Holloway, who's probably going to be coach of the
09:42year. He's spending $5 million, half. My son Richard's spending half. Butler's spending half.
09:48So we need to get those other guys up where Creighton and Georgetown and Providence and Villanova
09:54and us and Connecticut certainly are. Then you'll see a better conference.
10:00Yeah, I echo that completely. Now you referenced Richard. He's sensational. Look,
10:05Providence is, you know, family business. If he asked you for an opinion, would you tell him to
10:10take the Providence job? He can't take the Providence job. He loves his alma mater,
10:16but he can't. He has a gigantic buyout. And also, he would never leave a job after one year.
10:25He just doesn't believe in that. He loves the town of Cincinnati, the city of Cincinnati,
10:30Cincinnati. But he would never, ever leave Xavier after one year. He wants to rebuild that up.
10:37Certainly, he loves living there. And although he loves Providence, and it is his alma mater. And
10:43he's like me. I absolutely love PC, one of my favorite jobs of all time.
10:48So officially, we could take him out of that conversation.
10:51Yeah, he's not even a candidate.
10:53Perfect. Great. Jim Boeheim once told me, our mutual friend, you are the best X's and O's coach
10:58that has ever coached in college basketball. What's your reaction to that?
11:03Well, it's very nice. Probably not true, but it's very nice. You know, it's, I think what,
11:10what the culture that we bring to the table is, we try not to leave any stone unturned. We try
11:16to get
11:16every player, player development during the mornings to get them to their highest point.
11:21We try to turn over every scouting, every analytic to get ready for an opponent.
11:28But there are a lot of great coaches in our game. I think that the way you have to look
11:32at it
11:32is you got to love the game. You got to eat, sleep and drink the game. You got to put
11:38players first.
11:39And if you do all that, you'll be successful.
11:42I always love talking to Boeheim about teams that can actually cut down the nets.
11:46I think college basketball is in great hands right now. A lot of great teams. I see about
11:5112, 13, including St. John's that can win the entire thing. Big picture landscape in college
11:58basketball. How many can ultimately win a title this year? Well, you bring up some great points.
12:03I think the last two years in college basketball, because of the NIL, kids not moving on, the foreign
12:10influence, instead of going to the EuroLeague, they come to college because we can pay them better.
12:15That's right. So the talent on the court is the best I've seen the last two years.
12:21So I look at different tiers. I think right now, Duke, Michigan, Arizona, and Florida. They're the top
12:31four in their tier. Then you have the next tier of teams like UConn, Illinois, certainly Houston.
12:41And then you have the third tier. I'm probably missing one or two there. And the third tier,
12:46I would put us in teams like us, like us, like Gonzaga, teams like that that could possibly get to
12:55a
12:55Final Four. We're on the same page in terms of ranking those teams. I agree with you completely
13:00on the tiers. All right, a couple of fun quickies to end this. How about the Yankees this year? I
13:16wish they would have picked up the bottom of the lineup. I wish they had a little better hitting,
13:21certainly. The pitching hopefully gets healthy and we see our stars come back. Now the Giants are
13:28picking up great people. My guy Chris Mara is doing a phenomenal job there. They just got a great punter,
13:36linebacker. I think they're doing a phenomenal job. I wish the Yankees the bottom third of the lineup,
13:42I wish it was a little bit better, but maybe some of the young guys will come on.
13:47I agree with you on both the Giants and the Yankees. Now, the last time I saw you was at
13:52Gus's and
13:53Harrison and I love that place. So I'm curious, your favorite Westchester place to dine?
14:00By far, Sergio's in Porchester. Great ambiance. Festa. People are dancing. The music's great.
14:07The food is terrific. It's always packed. Sergio's without question.
14:14All right. Last one for you. You know, a little unknown fact. Every once in a while,
14:18we could play tennis with the same guy, our guy, David Graham, when Ronnie brings you over to where
14:23we like to play. So give me a Rick Pitino tennis game scouting report. Extremely mediocre.
14:34When I play Ron, he gives me, we start 40 love me and I may win one game if he
14:42just hits it in the net.
14:44But Ron's a tremendous guy. And this summer, all my grandkids went with Graham and he did a fabulous
14:50job at teaching them. They're all on their high school tennis team. So, you know, Ron is one of
14:55my best buddies right now and we hang out almost daily. Yeah, Ron's the best. His wife is a gem.
15:01My kid's pediatrician. So she is, she is outstanding. So coach, listen, I'm thrilled for you. I'm thrilled
15:09for your family, thrilled for St. John's basketball. Enjoy the Big East tournament,
15:14the NCAA tournament. We'll talk to you again real soon. Great. Thanks for having me.
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