‘Most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime’: Rick Pitino rips St. John’s players

Rick Pitino is turning heads in his latest coaching stint at St. John’s — but only partially for his team’s on-court product.

Pitino, in his first season coaching the Red Storm after a three-year stint at Iona, ripped into his players in a postgame news conference on Sunday after losing 68-62 to Shaheen Holloway’s Seton Hall team. The 71-year-old Naismith Hall of Famer bemoaned everything from his team’s lack of toughness and athleticism to St. John’s ‘(expletive) facilities’ to a ‘lost’ season of recruiting players via the transfer portal.

“If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,” Pitino told reporters.

The Red Storm gave up a 41-29 halftime lead to the Pirates, getting outscored 39-21 in the second half of Sunday’s loss. It dropped St. John’s to 14-12 on the season and 6-9 in Big East play, and was the team’s eighth defeat in the last 10 contests following a 12-4 start.

Following a Sean Conway made 3-pointer at the 16:13 mark, St. John’s did not score another field goal in the second half until an RJ Luis Jr. jumper made the score 50-48 Seton Hall with 6:48 left in the game. A Daniss Jenkins 3-pointer gave St. John’s its last lead, 53-52, with 5:22 left to play.

The Red Storm, who were outscored 16-9 in the game’s final five-plus minutes, shot 33.8% from the field and 24% from 3-point range. Asked whether he had second thoughts on taking the St. John’s job, Pitino said it wasn’t the program, but his players who were the problem.

He then proceeded to criticize the university’s basketball facilities.

“Do we have (expletive) facilities? Yes, we do,” Pitino said. “But we’re doing something about that. But that’s not the reason we’re losing. Having (expletive) facilities has nothing to do with not guarding.”

Pitino spoke at length about his team’s lack of athleticism and toughness, which stood in stark contrast to his favorable review of Holloway’s Seton Hall team. The St. John’s coach, who has criticized the advent of NIL and the transfer portal in college athletics, called out several of his own players by name, adding that he recruited offensive-oriented players to St. John’s through the portal ‘at the last second.’

That strategy, he suggested, has since come back to bite his team on the defensive end.

“We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” he said. “For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing.

Added Pitino: “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited. We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.

‘We had to put together a team at the last second. We will never, ever, do that again.”

Pitino and St. John’s return to play at Georgetown on Wednesday.