Why Rick Pitino later wants to avoid his son Xavier’s team

stSt. John picked up a win over Xavier on Monday night. in the process, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino ranks third in all-time winspassing legendary coach Roy Williams. The win came at the expense of his son, Richard Pitino, Xavier’s head coach.

The elder Pitino spoke to the media after the game his son’s team and his desire not to face them at the Great Eastern Tournament.

“I hope we don’t play them in the Big East tournament. I think my son is brilliant. I’m proud of him. I hate to get any kind of milestone against him – but I’m leaving tonight saying my son is a hell of a coach. … Saying my son is a great coach is far more important to me than any number of wins. Jones PN said the coach from St.

This is the second time this year that the father’s team has beaten the sons, and it took a comeback. In the first game, St. John’s won 88-83, but Xavier led by as many as 16 points. In the second contest, Xavier’s largest lead was just five points, but the Red Storm needed overtime to pull out the victory.

“In two games against them, he completely outplayed me, and their personnel outplayed us. We couldn’t guard them. We couldn’t stop them on offense. They put us in bad shifts. They executed,” the 73-year-old coach said. “All the credit goes to Richard, his staff, his players. They outplayed us twice, but we pulled it out in the last minutes and got the win.”

This was the sixth meeting between father and son, as Rick Pitino moved to 5-1 against Richard. The lone victory for the younger Pitino came in the 2022-23 season when his New Mexico team defeated an Iona team coached by his father. Meanwhile, Richard Pitino is trying to get Xavier back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years while in his first year on the job.

“We had a chance to win it. Proud of the effort. They’re great kids. They really believe in what we’re building,” Richard Pitino said. “Obviously we’re trying to get to UConn’s level, we’re trying to get to St. John’s level. But you can’t have 28 free throws to nine and think you’re going to win the game.”

St. John’s is now 19-5 on the seasonand 12-1 in conference play. That ties them for first with UConn, but they currently have a tiebreaker with a win over the Huskies, and will face them again at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Xavier is just 12-12 on the year, and 4-9 in conference play. They look to snap a two-game losing streak Saturday against Marquette.