Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!
- Thread starter Section9
- Start date
Not sure if posted yet:
Moose
Well-known member
Pitino or Niki?
Spocky Ramone
Well-known member
Yes
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Did anyone listen to Rick on WFAN this morning ???
I just replayed the interview using the Audacy app which allows you to rewind. Some notes:
- Rick really played up Alabama's uptempo offense. The team practiced with an 18 second shot clock to prepare defensively for how Alabama gets up and down.
- Rick talked about watching the tape of the Arkansas game after the season and being struck by how athletic and long Arkansas was. He decided to schedule multiple SEC teams so this years squad is more prepared for that. He also said that Big East teams can beat anyone, but they don't necessarily provide the same challenge from an athletic/length standpoint.
- Talked about how NIL and players getting paid does not stop players from caring about winning. Said his guys are extremely competitive
- There was a conversation about how SJU generates money, and if it is easier for us to compete because we don't have to put money into a football program. Rick said SJU doesn't exactly give a lot of money, and Rick does a lot of work fundraising, and obviously gets help from Repole.
- Rick said the most talented player on the team offensively is Joson Sanon
- He discussed how the NCAA tournament loss last year came down to the matchup. Said you can build a great team but one bad matchup and you can be knocked out. He said he is confident that he built a roster this year that can play against type of team.
- Ended with some Knicks talk. Rick said he hit up Thibs last year and said "Thibs bring that center (Mitch Robinson) to St Johns and I can teach him how to shoot free throws." Then he said after watching Mitch more "maybe I can't help"
Another interview nugget from Rick:
“As far as St. John’s NIL budget, Pitino explained that super-donor “Mike Repole gives us about 40 percent of what we spend, and then we have to go raise the other 60 [percent] and pay the school back. So the school is not really giving us a whole lot.”
“As far as St. John’s NIL budget, Pitino explained that super-donor “Mike Repole gives us about 40 percent of what we spend, and then we have to go raise the other 60 [percent] and pay the school back. So the school is not really giving us a whole lot.”
dk423
Well-known member
What does this mean
Spocky Ramone
Well-known member
Bag of tokens budget still in effect.
And back to obscurity after Rick.
Or it could be Rick working his Jedi mind tricks on the donor base…
My guess is he’s noting the model does not put pressure on the school financially or is this a jab? Who knows when he has a mic in his hand.
I should have noted Zagoria tweeted the quote.
who knows what to take seriously when he talks in front of a mic…
With that said…
Enjoy the hell outta of this season lol
With that said…
Enjoy the hell outta of this season lol
dk423
Well-known member
I definitely feel like part of this is motivating donors and part of this is contract-motivated talk. It would also be naive to not see, at least some of it, has Rick's ego. But, if anyone deserved one, he does.
It certainly makes you wonder how medium-to-long term stable St. John's is.
But, like bucketshardy said, I'm gonna just enjoy his tenure here & worry about that some other day. lol
Sounded logical to me and as Rick pointed out not just a SJU thing. NCAA tells schools they need to finally share some of the revenue. Schools tell the football and basketball programs to find the money to cover that. I would think that is more universal than not.
And NIL or no NIL not a new thing. Whatever the budget has been all along at schools I'm sure there are fundraising commitments on coaches to meet included in the total budgeting. The only thing that is changing is the size of the numbers.
And NIL or no NIL not a new thing. Whatever the budget has been all along at schools I'm sure there are fundraising commitments on coaches to meet included in the total budgeting. The only thing that is changing is the size of the numbers.
Navigating through the NIL is worse and more complex than driving through rush hour traffic in midtown Manhattan. This is a factor for every school, no matter how many wealthy alums/donors they boast. SJU is not a unique case.
Take a look at Stanford for example. They have endowments that is greater than the GDP of many small countries, but yet hired Andrew Luck to be the GM and recently received $50 mm slated for NIL. Yet, that is not as large as it appears, when you need roughly $5 mm for a 4 or 5 star QB.
But since SJU only has to concern itself with basketball, it remains in good shape. Of course it must continue to be ranked.
The school has a good relationship with the Garden, it has received a lot of free publicity from the program’s resurgence, and enrollment applications are healthy.
As long as Pitino does what Pitino does here, and the next hire (which we all know will be crucial) there will be enough NIL money to remain competitive in the basketball landscape.
Take a look at Stanford for example. They have endowments that is greater than the GDP of many small countries, but yet hired Andrew Luck to be the GM and recently received $50 mm slated for NIL. Yet, that is not as large as it appears, when you need roughly $5 mm for a 4 or 5 star QB.
But since SJU only has to concern itself with basketball, it remains in good shape. Of course it must continue to be ranked.
The school has a good relationship with the Garden, it has received a lot of free publicity from the program’s resurgence, and enrollment applications are healthy.
As long as Pitino does what Pitino does here, and the next hire (which we all know will be crucial) there will be enough NIL money to remain competitive in the basketball landscape.