Two useful things happened for St. John's on Wednesday night: First, it won a basketball game for the first time in two weeks – only the second time in seven games – and then Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino apologized for leaving his squad had thrown over the weekend.
“These guys never let me down,” Pitino said after his team built a 21-point lead and cruised to a 90-85 win at Georgetown that ended a three-game losing streak. “I failed them with the basics.”
It was quite a change in tone from Sunday, when his team blew a 19-point lead and lost to Seton Hall, an eighth loss in 10 games that all but ended St. John's hopes of an NCAA Tournament appearance. Afterward, Pitino called his first season leading the program “the most unpleasant experience I've ever had since I've been coaching.”
He didn't stop there. Pitino went on to call his team “so unsportsmanlike that we can't guard anyone without fouling,” specifically calling out three players who were “laterally slow” and a fourth who was “physically weak.” In order to cover all bases, Pitino essentially threw his coaching staff under the bus.
“We kind of lost this season because of the way we recruited,” he said. “We recruited the opposite of the way I train: speed, quickness, fundamentals, strength and resilience. We didn't do that. It’s a good group, they try hard, they’re just not very tough.”
Pitino made up for it all after Wednesday's win, which improved his team to 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the Big East. “Words count,” he said, adding that he addressed the team when his staff alerted him that some of the players were hurt by his comments.
“I absolutely love you guys,” Pitino told them. “I would never want to embarrass you. It's my fault. I am guilty. I should never have mentioned anyone by name. I did not mean it like that.”
He also made it clear that he had personally recruited everyone in the squad – and got the players he wanted.
“My staff did not recruit these people,” he said. “It was all me.”
And while apologizing, “I want to apologize to all the St. John's fans,” Pitino continued, “for treating me like royalty.”
As for his players, senior transfer Jordan Dingle, the Ivy League player of the year last season at Penn, said they still have Pitino's back — and they believe he has their back, despite the harsh criticism.
“We know how much he loves us and cares about us,” Dingle said, “and how much he cares about winning, so I don’t think the guys really took it too much to heart.”
Many of Pitino's former players say the same thing. He's always been a tough coach – one who rarely shies away from emotion – but he's also led three different programs to a Final Four and won two national championships, in part because he refused to accept mediocrity.
His recent comments about the Red Storm roster “didn’t surprise me,” former Kentucky All-American Tony Delk, who once suggested Pitino transfer at halftime of a game, told The Athletic this week. “The only thing I can say about Coach is that he is brutally honest. It may be harder for this generation to accept, but we accepted it, responded to it, and he brought out the best in us. If I were those kids, I would stay and listen to him.”
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(Photo: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)