Rick Pitino’s window may be closing, as he said during an interview with Fox Sports over the weekend, but it doesn’t sound like it will be shut when this season is complete.
He’s enjoying coaching at St. John’s too much.
On Monday, the Hall of Fame coach addressed his comments in the interview in which he brought up the idea that “my window is closing” and “if I decide come April that that’s it for me, I want to say I’ve gotten every ounce of perspiration out of me that year, so I went out the way I came in, with great enthusiasm.”
He reiterated that, while he plans to take some time when this season is up to see if he still has it in him to do the job, that is something he has done each April for the past two decades.
Pitino has three years left on his contract after this campaign.
“I anticipate saying the same thing I’ve said for the last 25 years: Let’s get after it for another year,” the 72-year-old Pitino said on Monday ahead of St. John’s trip to Georgetown on Tuesday.
“With me, there’s never going to be a problem physically, because I get after it pretty hard. But you got to say mentally, is this what you want to do with the last few years of your existence, so to speak?”
It has been a fun year so far. St. John’s is ranked 15th in the country in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll (its highest ranking in a decade), and at 17-3 is off to its best start through 20 games since the 1989-90 season.
The Johnnies have won six straight games, are tied atop the Big East with No. 9 Marquette, and are solidly in the NCAA Tournament right now, according to almost all Bracketologists.
They are making the second-year leap so many of Pitino’s teams have throughout his legendary career. His players say he isn’t slowing down. He will frequently be on the treadmill or elliptical machine before and after practice, sweating with them.
“It’s kind of inspirational to see him at his age still as passionate for the game as he is now,” freshman Jaiden Glover said.
There are times fellow freshman Ruben Prey just thinks to himself: “This man really loves what he does.”
Pitino said St. John’s is the toughest job he’s ever had, because of how little success this program has enjoyed over the past 25 years and the infrastructure improvements required upon his arrival.
A new weight room, film room and refueling station are among the notable additions. Attendance has picked up this year, the Johnnies averaging 14,447 fans in their four games at the Garden so far. His presence also helped funnel money into the program, so important in the age of Name, Image & Likeness.
“It’s very difficult for me to go out and ask for money, but I’ve gotten good at it,” Pitino said. “I never really liked it before in my 45 years. I would rather give money than ask for money. We have a routine: I go in, talk basketball, talk the old days, talk the Knicks, Michael Jordan, and then I leave and have [general manager] Matt [Abdelmassih] hit them for the money. So I don’t have to directly ask them.”
As for the window closing comment, Pitino pointed out that he is 72. It’s natural to think that way. He, however, isn’t talking like someone who has an end date in mind.
“I’m not going to live forever. But I am very happy. I’m very excited. I think I’m in as good of shape as I was 15 years ago, mentally and physically,” he said. “The weight room, the refueling room, the fundraising, we’re doing it all in a year and a half, and we have great help with our alumni. So that’s very exciting, very stimulating. But it’s hard work. There’s very few nights off.”
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