Rick Pitino took the Big East by storm this season, winning the regular season and conference championships in his second season with the St. John’s Red Storm.
The NCAA tournament didn’t go as planned for the Johnnies, who bowed out in the second round after a 75-66 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, but their 31-5 record was the best the school had seen in 40 years.
Pitino and the Red Storm should be near the top of the Big East again next season, but an intriguing new foe has emerged.
Days after losing head coach Sean Miller to the Texas Longhorns, the Xavier Musketeers are set to hire New Mexico Lobos head coach Richard Pitino.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel had the news first on Tuesday night.
NEWS: Xavier is expected to hire New Mexico’s Richard Pitino as its next head coach, sources confirmed to me and @PeteThamel. Led the Lobos to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and a regular-season Mountain West title this season.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 26, 2025
Pitino graduated from Providence College in 2005 and was an assistant at Northeastern and Charleston before joining his dad at Louisville in 2007. In 2009, he left Louisville to serve on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida but returned to Louisville after the 2011 season.
In 2012, Florida International named the then 30-year-old Pitino its head coach.
He went 18-14 in one season at FIU before being named the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. His time in Minnesota was up-and-down but featured two NCAA Tournament appearances (2017, 2019) an NIT Championship (2014), and a Big Ten Coach of the Year Award (2017).
After being fired by Minnesota in 2021, Pitino took over the New Mexico Lobos and found success after a quick rebuilding year. The Lobos went 13-19 in 2021-22, but won at least 22 games in each of the next three seasons, including a 26-10 record in 2023-24 and a 27-8 record in 2024-25.
In his 13 seasons as a head coach, Pitino has compiled a 247-186 record and four NCAA tournament appearances.
