Rick Pitino inks new contract to stay with St. John’s

St. John’s basketball soared to new, long-awaited heights under Rick Pitino. Including advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 and handing Duke a scare. Pitino received his reward for reigniting the Red Storm after March Madness.

Pitino and the Catholic university have agreed to a new contract, per ESPN college basketball insider Pete Thamel. Rumors of Pitino signing a new deal surfaced Sunday morning. Now it’s finalized, with Thamel dropping these details. 

“The deal includes an additional year through the 2029-30 season and a significant increase in pay to make him the Big East’s second highest paid coach,” Thamel posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

That means the national title winner is earning more than the $20 million he previously agreed to in 2023.

This contract will place him behind UConn’s Dan Hurley, who’s currently the highest-paid head coach in the Big East.

Pitino, though, has galvanized the Queens, NY region with resurrecting the Red Storm. St. John’s never reached consecutive NCAA Tournaments since Mike Jarvis in 1999 and 2000. Jarvis also is the last head coach to lead the program into the regional semifinals.

Except Pitino is officially the first St. John’s head coach to lead back-to-back 30-win seasons since legendary Red Storm leader Lou Carnesecca (1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons).

Pitino and the Red Storm came close to knocking off top-seeded Duke in the East Regional. Duke’s inside game and second chance points, however, sealed the 80-75 win in Washington D.C.

Now the 73-year-old can focus on replacing lead scorer Zuby Ejiofor. Bryce Hopkins is another key departure who arrived as a graduate transfer.

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