🏀 The Rise of St. John’s and the Kansas Crossroads

Rick Pitino is a Hall of Fame basketball coach whose career has spanned over five decades, marked by record-breaking achievements and a signature high-pressure defensive style. He began his basketball journey as a point guard at the University of Massachusetts, where he led the team in assists during his junior and senior years before graduating in 1974. His coaching career started as an assistant at Hawaii and Syracuse, followed by a stint with the New York Knicks in the NBA. As a head coach, he has led numerous high-profile programs, including Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona, and the Boston Celtics. Notably, he became the first coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools—Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville—to the Final Four. He won a national championship with Kentucky in 1996 and another with Louisville in 2013, though the latter title was eventually vacated by the NCAA.After taking over St. John’s in 2023, he quickly revitalized the program, leading them to back-to-back Big East regular-season and tournament titles by 2026. A defining moment in this tenure occurred on March 22, 2026, when his fifth-seeded Red Storm faced fourth-seeded Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in San Diego. The game featured a rare matchup between Pitino and Kansas coach Bill Self, marking only their second meeting ever. St. John’s appeared to be in control after building a massive lead, but Kansas mounted a late comeback fueled by freshman guard Darryn Peterson, who scored 21 points and tied the game with two clutch free throws with 13 seconds remaining.With the game tied at 65 and only 3.9 seconds left, Pitino made a daring play call. During the final timeout, junior guard Dylan Darling, nicknamed "Bells," asked to run a play called "Power," a high back-screen pick-and-roll. Although Darling had been scoreless the entire night and had missed all four of his previous shot attempts, Pitino trusted the player's confidence. Darling drove the lane and hit a game-winning layup as time expired, securing a 67-65 victory. This made Darling the only player in tournament history to score his first points of a game on a buzzer-beater to win.The victory was a major milestone, sending St. John’s to its first Sweet 16 since 1999. Conversely, the loss was historic for Kansas, marking the first time in Bill Self's 23-year career that the team failed to reach the Sweet 16 in four consecutive tournaments. While the Jayhawks remained a powerful recruiting force, the early exit led to significant questions about the program's future dominance in an expanded conference. Following the dramatic win, St. John’s prepared to face the tournament's top overall seed, Duke, in the next round.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/champions-network--6884663/support.