Rick Pitino to leave Iona to become coach at St. John’s

Rick Pitino is set to become the new men’s basketball coach at St. John’s, according to a person familiar with the agreement.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the school had not yet made the announcement. Pitino is expected to be formally introduced by St. John’s during a news conference Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

The move puts the Hall of Fame coach back in the Big East Conference, looking to boost a storied St. John’s program that’s been mired in mediocrity for much of this century.

Following a successful run at nearby mid-major Iona, the 70-year-old Pitino was plucked away to replace Mike Anderson, who was fired March 10 after four seasons in charge of the Red Storm without making the NCAA tournament.

Reports quickly surfaced that indicated St. John’s planned to target Pitino, who grew up on Long Island not far from the school’s Queens campus in New York City.

Pitino has been to seven Final Fours and won a pair of NCAA championships, one each at Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013).

He was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 after an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption led to allegations of NCAA violations. It was the third scandal, professional and personal, in an eight-year period with the Cardinals — but Pitino was eventually exonerated in the FBI-related case.

Pitino has a .740 winning percentage in 34 full seasons as a college basketball coach. He has guided five schools to the NCAA tournament, including Boston University (1983) and Iona (2021, 2023).

He took a surprising Providence team on a memorable run to the 1987 Final Four, but the 2013 national title Pitino won at Louisville (then in the Big East) was later vacated by the NCAA after an investigation found an assistant coach paid escorts and exotic dancers to entertain players and recruits in campus dorms.

After two years coaching in Greece, he got the job at Iona — a small, private Catholic school located in New Rochelle, just north of New York City.

Pitino went 64-22 in three years with the Gaels, guiding them to two regular-season titles in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. Seeded 13th this year, they led No. 4 seed UConn at halftime before getting knocked out in the first round with an 87-63 loss that snapped a 14-game winning streak.

Leading up to the game, Pitino said he hopes he can coach for 12 more years.

“But I’ll take six or seven,” he said.

He said it would take “a special place” for him to consider leaving Iona, but he also spoke about how much he admired St. John’s president, the Rev. Brian Shanley, who previously worked at Providence.