Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!

In the interview he also said his practices are the same as Columbia runs and any other number of schools. Said the difference was the time he and staff put into player development. Used a story about how he got Donovan Mitchell to visit Louisville when he was down to Nova and two other schools telling him he would never make the pros because his jumper was broken as it was too flat put they could fix it.

Also said some, not all did not treat Coach Anderson with respect. They didn't go to class, didn't listen or act in the Vincentian way with humility and those players had to go.

He said players are now on one year contracts and become free agents when the season is done. Mentioned guys like Zuby and RJ are highly valuable because they are talented and have already used up their free transfers and still have several years of eligibility left.

Also added the offense is coming along but the defense still needs a lot of work and how each day the players get a text from him showing their defensive metrics from the practice before.
 
Yesterday, I went back and viewed the RP press conference just after Iona lost to Yukon. First, it was pretty obvious (in retrospect of course) that Pitino liked Iona but didn’t feel he could get the “bigs” to compete with higher level competitors. He specifically mentions that he had lost his backup power forward who was 194 pounds soaking wet. If you recall, Sanogo really hurt them in the 2nd half. This was the presser where he mentions he hasn’t been to SJU since 1987.

Second, Daniss Jenkins was also at the presser. He was asked about what he learned from Pitino. He gave a very impressive answer. Part of it was talking about stepping up during adversity. Jenkins is a very smart and thoughtful kid. Worth a listen.
 
I was told this in confidence back in March when it was rumored Rick was headed to SJU. But since Rick basically confirmed everything in that interview I can tell you what I heard.

Apparently as late as early February SJU was inclined to bring Anderson back despite the bad year. Although they felt they could probably scrape together enough donors for the buyout in this economic climate they did not think it would look good.

But Shanley had heard rumors about player discontent and lack of respect for the coaches. So he attended a practice and was "appalled." Just could not believe the lack of structure and total lack of respect by players.

He made the decision then that Anderson had to go. And that if necessary they would find the money (as it turned out they fired him with cause but my guess is they will probably ultimately settle for some amount).
 
fordham96 said:
I was told this in confidence back in March when it was rumored Rick was headed to SJU. But since Rick basically confirmed everything in that interview I can tell you what I heard.

Apparently as late as early February SJU was inclined to bring Anderson back despite the bad year. Although they felt they could probably scrape together enough donors for the buyout in this economic climate they did not think it would look good.

But Shanley had heard rumors about player discontent and lack of respect for the coaches. So he attended a practice and was "appalled." Just could not believe the lack of structure and total lack of respect by players.

He made the decision then that Anderson had to go. And that if necessary they would find the money (as it turned out they fired him with cause but my guess is they will probably ultimately settle for some amount).
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us hardcore fans, saw it on the bench during games (at least i did). there was a lot of talk back, yelling at coaches. so if that was happening in front of fans, can't imagine what it was like behind closed doors.

that being said, i wish RP would stop talking about that. it's the past. it's done. there's nothing to be gained.
 
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bamafan said:
Not surprised to hear the thinking was it would look bad to fire a coach mired in mediocrity. It was the St. John’s way for too long. Hopefully now that they have awakened they will stay that way.
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To be clear I think what they felt would look bad was buying out a coach for a VERY LARGE amount in these economic times (high inflation) would not look good for a Catholic School. Not so much the justification for firing a mediocre coach.
 
paultzman said:
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I haven't heard anything about this, but if the pricetag is $35 million, that is far below modifying Tafner as a basketball only facility, booting students to a brand new student wellness facility, which was projected to cost $50-70 million. This makes sense because you eliminate modifying Tafner and if you could keep the cost to $35 million, is far less than the earlier plan. Rick obviously intimately involved, is very smart, as is Bill J. and others involved in the process.
 
redmen4life said:
us hardcore fans, saw it on the bench during games (at least i did). there was a lot of talk back, yelling at coaches. so if that was happening in front of fans, can't imagine what it was like behind closed doors.

that being said, i wish RP would stop talking about that. it's the past. it's done. there's nothing to be gained.
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FWIW, I believe the message he is sending is to current and future players; maybe unnecessary (or overkill) because all I have heard, and other posters have offered the same, Pitino and staff have recruited not only good players but really good people.
Finally, I think the “effort” message is clearly getting through; what some players felt was max effort was not what Pitino thought; word is Jenkins has been instrumental in making players understand coaches expectations are on another level. Very much old school “fight for and earn your minutes”.
 
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