“Raise this roof up. St. John’s is going to be back, I guarantee it,” the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer firmly stated inside Madison Square Garden at his introductory press conference on March 21, 2023.
Just two years later, Pitino fulfilled his guarantee leading the Johnnies’ ascension back into national prominence. The Red Storm won a BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championships, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and matched a program record with 31 victories. St. John’s climbed as high as No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the program’s best ranking since 1991.
With all the success on the court came the accolades to follow, as Pitino claimed six different coach of the year awards, many of which he captured for the first time in his decorated 50-year career. Pitino was honored with three of the four major national coach of the year awards – Associated Press National Coach of the Year, Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year and the Henry Iba Award presented to the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association National Coach of the Year.
Now nearly four decades after earning his first national accolade, the 1986-87 NABC National Coach of the Year, Pitino completed the career grand slam of major national coach of the year awards. Pitino was presented with the NABC recognition in 1987 after leading Providence to the Final Four, which was also his second season leading the Friars.
In 2024-25, the Johnnies reached many program milestones under Pitino’s leadership for the first time in at least 25 years. St. John’s climbed back to the top of the BIG EAST with regular seasons and tournament titles and won its first NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2000. Tying a program record with 31 victories, Pitino surpassed the likes of Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp climbing to fifth all-time in Division I with 885 career wins. Pitino also became the first-ever NCAA Division I coach to lead six different programs to the Big Dance.
For the first time in the 58-year history of the Associated Press National Coach of the Year award, there was a tie in voting as Pitino alongside Auburn’s Bruce Pearl received the honor on April 4, 2025, in San Antonio, ahead of the Final Four. The active winningest coach in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball became just the sixth coach in the history of the BIG EAST to join the exclusive fraternity.
While in San Antonio during Final Four weekend, Pitino was honored with the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year award on April 6, 2025. The Red Storm’s play-caller became the first St. John’s coach to ever win the prestigious honor. He was presented with the trophy at the Tobin Center for Performing Arts, alongside Naismith National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg of Duke and Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton.
For the first time in his 12 years as a head coach in the BIG EAST, Pitino was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year on March 12, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. The New York native is just the second coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history, joining Dana Altman, to win a conference coach of the year award at four different schools and in four different conferences. Pitino previously garnered six conference coach of the year honors at Kentucky (1991, 1996), Louisville (2005), Iona (2022, 2023) and now St. John’s (2025).
This past season, Pitino’s son, Richard, earned Mountain West Coach of the Year after leading New Mexico to the conference’s outright regular season championship and NCAA Tournament Second Round. The two made history becoming the first father-son duo in NCAA Division I to be named their conference’s coach of the year in the same season.
In his third coaching stint in the BIG EAST with as many programs, Pitino became the league’s first-ever coach to win conference regular season and tournament titles at two different institutions. The 2024-25 Red Storm delivered Pitino a fourth BIG EAST Tournament Championship after winning three at Louisville (2009, 2012, 2013).
On March 17, 2025, Pitino was named the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association’s Henry Iba Award for the National Coach of the Year, just after completing a perfect 21-0 season in New York City, including 12-0 record at MSG. The undefeated home record marked a program first since 1931-32.
Pitino received a special honor on April 24, 2025, that was renamed “The Looie,” for the legendary Lou Carnesecca who passed away on Nov. 30, 2024, at the age of 99. The Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association (MBWA) named Pitino the top Division I coach in the region for the 2024-25 campaign, becoming the first St. John’s coach to win MBWA Coach of the Year award since 1999.
On Tuesday, Pitino was recognized as St. John’s University’s Herbert V. Hess Award winner, presented to the athletic department’s coach of the year at the 79th Annual Athletic Awards Banquet held in Carnesecca Arena. The St. John’s men’s basketball program earned two of the Red Storm Athletic Department’s five BIG EAST titles thus far for the 2024-25 academic year.
The future continues to look bright for St. John’s under the leadership Pitino next season, as the Red Storm will return four core players, highlighted by All-BIG EAST First Team selection Zuby Ejiofor, and nine newcomers. The Johnnies own the No. 1 ranked transfer portal class according to 247Sports.
