Rick Pitino channels Colorado’s Deion Sanders in his roster overhaul approach at St. John’s

The HOF Coach is looking to lead his sixth team to an NCAA Tournament

We all know the Coach Prime mantra, “If you look good, you feel good. If feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good!”

This certainly translates over to coaching. And though he’s been in game for many years, Rick Pitino appears to have been inspired by some of Coach Prime’s philosophies.

In a conversation with ESPN’s Seth Greenberg and Kevin Negandhi, Pitino talked more about his roster turnover.

“It was tough but the difference [with] Deion…Deion had a lot of players that weren’t ready to play at that level. I had really good players at St. John’s. Mike Anderson did a tremendous job recruiting, I just wanted a whole different culture. But the guys that were here, they could play.”

Pitino’s roster features 10 transfers and two freshmen. Percentage wise, this is not too dissimilar to Colorado’s 86 newcomers for the 2023 season.

At 71 years old, Pitino is entering his 36th season as a full-time NCAA Head Coach.

Whether this strategy works in a very competitive Big East is still to be determined. Where have we seen and heard that before?

Pitino has definitely maintained a youthful energy. For someone who endured intense public scrutiny many years, much of it self inflicted, he seems as spirited as ever. In listening for the ESPN interview, this was essentially the same enthusiastic coach who led Providence to a Final 4 run almost four decades ago. 

So, how does he do it?

“Well, you didn’t make me, you’re not gonna break (trails off, laughs).”

St. John’s opens their season at home on Tuesday, November 7th, against Stony Brook.