This is why, warts and all, St. John’s went out and hired Rick Pitino, who moved ever closer to sealing an NCAA Tournament bid for the 24th time with his sixth different program.
After upending Seton Hall in the Big East tournament Thursday at MSG, the Red Storm solidified their chance to go dancing for the first time since 2019 — former star Chris Mullin’s final year on the bench before four nondescript years under Mike Anderson (68-56) led to Pitino’s hiring barely one year ago.
St. John’s (20-12) will face top-seeded UConn on Friday night in their first trip to the conference semis since 2000, and they suddenly are riding a six-game winning streak since Pitino publicly laced into his players following a Feb. 18 loss to Seton Hall.
“This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime,” Pitino said then.
