St. John's Rick Pitino Names the One Coach He Considers a Rival

The Hall of Fame coach named the one person he considers a rival.

St. John's head coach Rick Pitino named the one coach he considers his rival. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

St. John's head coach Rick Pitino has never been one to shy away from a good sound byte with the media, and ahead of the Red Storm's round of 64 game against No. 15 seed Omaha on Thursday, the Hall of Fame head coach was asked who he considers to be his biggest rival.

Pitino answered without hesitation.

"There is only one coach I've ever considered a rival in my whole career...and today I respect him as much as anybody in the game, and that's Jim Calhoun," Pitino said of the legendary former Northeastern and UConn head coach. "We hated each other...BU and Northeastern...hated each other. And there were 300 people in each arena. He goes on to coach at Connecticut and I go on to coach at Providence and we hated each other there as well! And today I don't think I respect any coach in the game as much as I respect Jim Calhoun, so looking back on it, it was really funny at that stage of BU vs. Northeastern."

Rick Pitino on his only rival 👀 pic.twitter.com/jFlRYLcZ5X

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 19, 2025

Out of all the Hall of Fame coaches that Pitino has faced, Calhoun stands alone. The duo had plenty of battles throughout their time in the Northeast earlier in their careers, so it's fitting that Pitino points to Calhoun as the only one he considered a true rival.

The No. 2 seed Red Storm kick off their pursuit of a national title on Thursday night at 9:45 p.m. ET in Providence against 15-seed Omaha.

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