see the movie “Hoosiers”
Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!
- Thread starter Section9
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see the movie “Hoosiers”
Timing was perfect. Nothing more needed to say.
Spocky Ramone
Well-known member
When they make a movie about us maybe they’ll call it:
Hoosier Daddy
St. John’s should have hired Pitino or Cal before or after Jarvis and made them the top paid coach in the country. St. John’s would have gotten their money back and then some.
Those guys do so much more than coach…they build a brand and dot every i and cross every t imaginable. When you’re a basketball school, the program is the #1 marketing and fundraising tool.
Those guys do so much more than coach…they build a brand and dot every i and cross every t imaginable. When you’re a basketball school, the program is the #1 marketing and fundraising tool.
Agreed but this would be only one of many things which “Suit” Harrington should have done as StJ’s President.
We all hope and pray that that is exactly the case. It would be the greatest storybook ending.
From the Sunday September 24, 2023 NY Post:
nypost.com
Daniss Jenkins no longer an afterthought for St. John’s
Through the spring and summer, Daniss Jenkins was an afterthought for St. John’s. That’s not the case now.
nypost.com
Jenkins is obviously a huge piece and experienced guys like him can help bring this team to maximum potential. It is all about leadership especially w so many new pieces. Having a PG who knows what Rick wants and embraces being a leader is such a blessing in a transitional year.
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I'm not a board member, but JSJ, among the most respected on here, is. Almost all of the board members I know have season tix for years, rarely miss a game, have attended all the dinners previously and still, and approved firing Harrington, more than tripling Norms salary to hire Lavin, paying Mullin the same range (in a desperation move to restore the program), increasing Mullin's salary by 25% to hire Anderson, and approved firing Anderson with 4 years remaining on his deal to hire Pitino. When you look at the top donors to the Athletic Dept and the university as a whole, they are board members.
JSJ is great, everyone here knows that, and has supported the school for a long time. And so have the unnamed board members you reference. Any concerns against hiring Pitino were shared by about 300+ D1 schools, but I give the board and Shanley credit for considering the risk reward, and voting to approve the hire.
JSJ and the rest of the board don't need to be defended, but sometimes there is a view that is just not correct. Yours is not correct, but you are entitled to express it.
I’ve also think the kid is underrated as an actual Pg. He’s tall, can shoot and averaged almost 5 assists per game. Should only get better with better players around him.
I think all of the positive reports are great, but practice heroes can be like the first few miles of a marathon. Once the season starts, there are bound to be some guys who unexpectedly break from the pack and stand out among others when it all counts against BE competition. With a deep bench should be fun to watch and obviously there can be a bunch of contributors.
My criticism of the board was based on their selection of coaches They may be the nicest gentlemen in the world and be very generous in their support of SJU basketball but the fact is they have been over a not short period but over thirty years terrible failures driving SJU to irrelevancy in men’s basketball
I also feel without Father Shanley stepping in this past year SJU would have a different coach and heading for another era of failure.
I also feel without Father Shanley stepping in this past year SJU would have a different coach and heading for another era of failure.
GC62 is correct that Fr. Shanley made the difference; the board would not have gone along with the hire without being convinced by Fr. Shanley. Even members of this board (admittedly myself included) argued against RP's hire in the aftermath of the scandals at Louisville; I am sure more so on the Board of Trustees. All the stuff about us being a principled and Catholic university of good moral values educating young men and women to be good socially responsible people, etc.
I hand it to Iona they took the bigger gamble and then when all went well there and the NCAA officially let him off the hook, our hire became a lot easier, but IMO all because of the foresight of Fr. Shanley.
A few years from now (hopefully) when we soar BB-wise and move up academically with more applications and a lower Acceptance rates, we can all thank Fr. Shanley.
I for one admit wholeheartedly I was wrong back in the day, and I am very happy with Coach Rick Pitino, apologizing for any negative comments. (I also didn't think Rick Pitino wanted to come to SJU, but I was wrong about that also.)
Let's all go to confession.
RedmanMike
Well-known member
As I've said a bunch of times, the big mistake was not hiring McKillop after Jarvis. He was a young coach on the rise, and he would have jumped at the job. he would have coached here for 20 years and we would have been very good. I always thought Pitino was a pipe dream during those years. I'll admit that I was against hiring Pitino after the Louisville debacle. He was damaged goods, a mulitple time NCAA violator. What changed for me was that Pitino got a clean bill of health from the NCAA. At that point, it became a no-brainer. The ONE time where things actually fell into place for the Johnnies.
About McKillop, a basketball lifer, I agree completely, a NYer (I think LI) and look at his career at Davidson a tiny school known chiefly for its great academics than BB prowess. (Although in the older days of College BB it had some formidable squads from time to time; Terry Holland/Lefty Driesell days.) Under McKillop they have been consistently good to very good with limited resources.
McKillop would have been a stand up Triple; Pitino now a Grand Slam Home Run in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series/or a winning field goal with no time left on the clock in the Super Bowl.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa for not wanting Rick back in the day.
So True.
He was a great coach, and so successsful.
Tireless, bright, and loved.
His name would come up, when we were looking for a coach., however,
he was never hired. Maybe it was because he was happy where he was or what?
All of his kids graduated from Davidson and so did quite a few NBA players.
He was very big on European players.
His New York, Long Island background made him so ripe for us , but no!
A REDMAN, he was never to be, but still a man's man. What a guy!
It didn't go down exactly that way, but the hire has taken on a life of its own. Suffice to say, there hasn't been blowback and Rick smartly put some distance between the issues by taking a job at a mid major Iona, which had a whole lot less to lose by hiring him. It's a reason why we are paying him much more than CMA but far below Rick's market value sans the dings.
In a few months Rick has shown that he is the whole deal as a HOF coach. Great communicator, ability to bring in talent with the help of NIL, lightning rod for interest in SJU, and will not accept mediocrity in any way. There's a reason he has been to 7 Final Fours, won 2 championships, and has a great record in the tournament. He is among the very best to ever coach college ball. It's been the most fun in the off season since we landed Felipe and Zendon, and hopefully with much better results on the court.
BotEasts- I stand corrected in giving 100% credit for the RP hire to Fr. S., suffice it to say, "IT Don't Matter To Me" (to steal from an old hit song by Bread)-- He's here now and we got him, and buckle up for the ride of our lives.
So true: Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. Let everyone take credit --- who cares.
