Rick Pitino named finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year after St. John's turnaround

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Mar 24, 2025

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NEW YORK — Rick Pitino is one step closer to college basketball’s top national coaching honor.

The St. John’s coach was named one of four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year, joining Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Duke’s John Scheyer.

Monday’s announcement followed a year in which Pitino led St. John’s to a 31-5 record, its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 and its first Big East Tournament crown since 2000.

St. John’s was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, marking its first trip to the Big Dance since 2019. By rolling to an 83-53 victory over No. 15 Omaha in the first round, the Red Storm picked up their NCAA Tournament win in 25 years.

The season came to a sudden end Saturday, however, when No. 10 Arkansas upset the Johnnies, 75-66, in the second round.

A St. John’s coach has never won the Naismith award.

Pitino, who just finished his second season at St. John’s, was already named the Big East Coach of the Year — his first time winning the award despite having success in past stints at Providence and Louisville.

He has never won Naismith Coach of the Year, though he was named the John Wooden National Coach of the Year and the NABC Coach of the Year in 1987, a season in which he took Providence to the Final Four.

Pitino, 72, faces formidable competition for the Naismith honor, which will be announced April 6 during the Final Four in San Antonio.

Pearl led Auburn to a regular-season championship in the loaded SEC and to the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Sampson and Scheyer both won their conferences’ respective regular-season and tournament championships and are also No. 1 seeds at the Big Dance.

Monday’s finalists emerged from a previously announced group of semifinalists that included Florida’s Todd Golden, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Missouri’s Dennis Gates, Louisville’s Pat Kelsey, Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland and Drake’s Ben McCollum.

The finalists for women’s college basketball’s Naismith Coach of the Year are South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb, UCLA’s Cori Close and TCU’s Mark Campbell.

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