NEW YORK -- Rick Pitino and St. John’s can clinch the program’s first Big East regular-season title in 40 years with a win over Seton Hall on Saturday at Madison Square Garden (2:15, CBS), but they won’t be cutting down any nets after the game.
Pitino said he never even entertained the idea until a New York Post story suggested the Red Storm should do it.
“It was such a bad suggestion that they unanimously voted it down,” Pitino said of his team’s vote on cutting down the nets.
He added: “I just said [to the team], ‘Look guys, my teams have never cut down the nets in a regular-season championship.’ I even called [former Louisville guard] Peyton Siva yesterday just to make sure I remember correctly. And he said, No, we never did that. And the players all agree that we have another game to play [at Marquette March 8]. It’s all premature. We don’t know if we’re going to win tomorrow, so we don’t want to plan anything. And they feel with another game we shouldn’t do it.”
The Red Storm (25-4, 16-2 Big East) will clinch the title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big East Tournament with a win Saturday.
They have already clinched a share of the program’s first title since 1992.
Pitino, meantime, can become the first coach ever to win the Big East regular-season title with two schools. He led Louisville to the outright title in 2009.
Asked which means more to him, the regular-season title or the Big East Tournament title, Pitino said:
“Oh, regular title by far, because that’s a grind. I mean, it’s a long season...For a lot of teams, it’s a way to get in the NCAA Tournament. You know, for us, we’re gonna be in it, but...we want to win both, obviously. But now the regular season is a very tough thing to do.”
Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond recently said he wasn’t looking forward to capturing the title against his old school because he still has friends there.
“He’s always acted like a professional,” Pitino said of Richmond. “He’s a unique individual there. He’s says all the right things. He’s very articulate. His body is in the best shape of his life, and that’s good. I’m not sure Kadary was ever in great shape, but he has to be to play this style of play.”
Seton Hall (7-21, 2-15) is experiencing a dreadful season after losing Richmond to St. John’s and Dre Davis to Ole Miss, while Jaden Bediako and Al-Amir Dawes exhausted their eligibility.
Still, they did beat two-time defending champion UConn and led Villanova by as many as 16 on Wednesday night before folding down the stretch.
“Well, they’re playing great defense right now,” Pitino said of the Pirates. “They beat UConn. They play really, really hard. We know they’re gonna play really hard in the Garden. It’s a tribute to [coach Shaheen [Holloway] and the staff that regardless of their record, they’re going to bring great defense.”
As for cutting down any nets, St. John’s wants to do that at the end of the Big East Tournament, not for a regular-season game.
“Coach P obviously said he’s [cut down the nets] a bunch of times, so he said you normally cut down the nets when you win the Big East Tournament,” said junior forward RJ Luis. “So, I mean, that’s really just the goal.”
PITINO WEIGHS IN ON BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
Despite all his accomplishments, including being named John Wooden National Coach of the Year in 1987, Pitino has never won Big East Coach of the Year honors.
But he seems like a virtual lock for his first one at this point. The Red Storm were picked fifth in the league and are on the brink of locking up the regular-season title outright.
“I’ve been blessed to win National Coach of the Year a couple of times, I think, and it was very nice,” he said. “I would have voted for other people. And so it really doesn’t matter to me, individual awards at 72 years of age, I’ve had way too many blessings in my life. So it really doesn’t matter.
“I’m very, I am absolutely ecstatic for what the players are going through.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.