Dylan Darling reveals Rick Pitino’s message before dagger vs. Kansas

St. John’s basketball has a new “Darling” in program history, literally. Dylan Darling penetrated into the heart of the Kansas defense and banked an unreal final basket in the 67-65 win during March Madness. His buzzer beater inside Viejas Arena in San Diego came with a message from head coach Rick Pitino, though.

Darling shared what that message was while mobbed by teammates during his postgame interview with CBS. Turns out it was a yelling message.

Dylan Darling says St. John’s coach Rick Pitino was ‘yelling at him’ in their final timeout before he scored the game-winner

“What did your coach say to you in that final timeout?”

Darling: “Yelling at me, per usual.”

pic.twitter.com/UbULdRnuhq

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 22, 2026

Darling even struggled throughout the night on the scoring end. Plus absorbed two fouls beforehand. He settled for just two points…but it came as time melted away.

Dylan Darling hits history in final St. John’s basket

Darling’s basket sends the Red Storm back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999, before the point guard was born.

Now he’s part of more than St. John’s history, but NCAA Tournament history per CBS Sports.

“Dylan Darling becomes the first player in NCAA Tournament history to hit a game-winning buzzer beater as his first basket of the game,” CBS Sports revealed via the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

He even accepted a diminished scoring load compared to his last stop. Darling averaged 19.8 points per game for Idaho State before his arrival to St. John’s. But he blew past taller Jayhawks defenders to get the “Johnnies” exploding with joy.

DYLAN DARLING GAME WINNER OMG

ST. JOHN'S ADVANCES TO THE SWEET 16 pic.twitter.com/cgtCSgKHe5

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026

St. John’s entered this tournament as a legit national title contender. This despite never winning a national championship in the program’s 119-season history.

Darling, however, became the newest beloved Storm player. And got his first points of the day in at the most opportune time.

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