Meet the coach event.
- Thread starter matt105
- Start date
fan since 65
Well-known member
Right now, I believe the Champions Club members and the Board of Trustees have an event scheduled. There will be the Basketball Dinner held in late September, open to all who want to pay, where the staff and probably the team will be there. The last few years it was held in December but it has been moved up so as to not interfere with the season. It used to be in October but the President's Dinner was also held then so there was a conflict.
Not sure I had heard this story. Can someone share?
Really ? Holy cow I never knew this story . What coach ? If recruits were gonna be there my guess is Mullin didn’t show
Champions Club event was last night in NYC. Really nice event. The basketball kickoff dinner is a great event, typically with a high profile guest speaker (Bernard King in 2022, Charles Barkley and Jayson Williams 2021). Coach and some/all players typically attend. Both relatively small getherings (<300). Kickoff dinner is fund raising event, as are the golf outings (the event at Deepdale in June is sold out for golf, dinner may be available).
Coach's free time is very limited. He is already working with the players and unofficial practices starting soon (on june 23 if i didn't mishear him). He invited people last night to attend practices, but warned to stay quiet.
Only starters set are Dingle and Soriano. Everyone else will vie for time. 4 or 5 fifth year grad players, with different rules for them, but he wants rest of team to do lots together socially to bond as a team. Says with portal it's hard to recruit out of hs because younger players don't want to sit behind experienced players. He says Dunlap understands this.
Says MSG has been great in official visits, telling recuits they have 3 home teams - Knicks, Rangers, and St. Johns. Says that we all are sort of accustomed to being in NYC, but recruits like everyone else are interested in being in the greatest city in the world. He mentioned facilities again and joked that Shanley assured him they will get done within a year.
Mentioned how all players want to play professionally somewhere, and all want to become better players. That plus NIL are top 3 factors in a decision. Pitino explained how he recruited Donovan Mitchell to Louisville after Mitchell told him process was closed. Great vintage Pitino story.
He did say that our kids want NIL to help their families and hand over money to them.
All in all a homecoming, and it's clear RP is a New Yorker thru and thru.
I'm not certain the best is yet to come for Pitino but I wouldn't bet against it.
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
One addition to Sal's aforementioned summary:
Coach Pitino wants us to sell out The Garden when we play Michigan
Extremely important for the program for our fan base to show up
Coach Pitino wants us to sell out The Garden when we play Michigan
Extremely important for the program for our fan base to show up
SJUDave
Well-known member
Absolutely no excuse not to show up anymore. Everyone who sat at home and cried on social media better pony up and show up.
classof2010
Well-known member
My cousins were there last night. Even, asked a question and got to speak with Coach Pitino after. He said it was a great evening. He spoke and waxed positively about recruiting for like 15 minutes. We have one of greatest coaches to ever do it. Both college and pro. Laid the foundation for Riley with the Knicks. Also, Coach Pitino gets a lot of crap for his job with the Celtics. The talent he put together went to a Conference Final, the season after he got fired with that group. I am psyched for the season.
classof2010
Well-known member
My cousins pictured with Ricky Johns
Last edited:
Yesterday was the SJU Lou Carnesecca golf outing, another sold out event. Lou was there, receiving dozens and dozens of former players, administrators, and alumni. He didn't speak publicly but his mere presence made a great venue at Deepdale golf club seem like Buckingham palace.
The air quite frankly is jubilant, and Rick is settling in quickly as a guy who is more a New Yorker, more one of us, than anyone since Coach C. He of course is a great public speaker but already is getting to know large numbers of alums and mixes easily.
Rick told a great story about Simeon Wilcher's visit, how his dad is a diehard SJU fan and literally welled up in tears upon meeting Lou Carnesecca. After the meeting Rick asked Lou if he thinks that was the deal maker. Coach C replied, "I don't know if you got the kid, but we got the parents!"
Rick answered the question about his coaching models and mentors. You guys nailed the first two, Boeheim and Hubie Brown, but then added, the third a maybe most important one I never met - Vince Lombardi. Very important to Rick is being Italian American and New Yorkee as was Lombardi, and builder sustainable championship caliber teams.
He mentioned that qhen he was a high school senior, Long Island had a population of 1.5 million and 15 D1 basketball scholarships. Last year with a much larger population he noted there was just 5 D1 players. He joked that it was because of all the successful St. John's grads putting their kids into soccer and lacrosse. He answered this in response to a question of what it means to recruit only PHDs.
Pitino noted that this may be the most rewarding stop in his career, restoring a winning tradition at a school close to his home. He expects to get to an 8th final four, and wouldn't rule out cutting down the nets.
This wasn't Pitino trying to charm a bunch of southerners in Kentucky, wearing white suits that invoked Colonel Sanders (as a New Yorker i know how hard it is to be accepted in the South (I had clients in both Louisville and Lexington). A Yankee fan coaching the Celtics with their masshole fans?
I really think Rick is realizing how great it is at 70 to come home.
The air quite frankly is jubilant, and Rick is settling in quickly as a guy who is more a New Yorker, more one of us, than anyone since Coach C. He of course is a great public speaker but already is getting to know large numbers of alums and mixes easily.
Rick told a great story about Simeon Wilcher's visit, how his dad is a diehard SJU fan and literally welled up in tears upon meeting Lou Carnesecca. After the meeting Rick asked Lou if he thinks that was the deal maker. Coach C replied, "I don't know if you got the kid, but we got the parents!"
Rick answered the question about his coaching models and mentors. You guys nailed the first two, Boeheim and Hubie Brown, but then added, the third a maybe most important one I never met - Vince Lombardi. Very important to Rick is being Italian American and New Yorkee as was Lombardi, and builder sustainable championship caliber teams.
He mentioned that qhen he was a high school senior, Long Island had a population of 1.5 million and 15 D1 basketball scholarships. Last year with a much larger population he noted there was just 5 D1 players. He joked that it was because of all the successful St. John's grads putting their kids into soccer and lacrosse. He answered this in response to a question of what it means to recruit only PHDs.
Pitino noted that this may be the most rewarding stop in his career, restoring a winning tradition at a school close to his home. He expects to get to an 8th final four, and wouldn't rule out cutting down the nets.
This wasn't Pitino trying to charm a bunch of southerners in Kentucky, wearing white suits that invoked Colonel Sanders (as a New Yorker i know how hard it is to be accepted in the South (I had clients in both Louisville and Lexington). A Yankee fan coaching the Celtics with their masshole fans?
I really think Rick is realizing how great it is at 70 to come home.