For the second time in 17 days, St. John’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino earned a five-point win over his son, Xavier head coach Richard Pitino.
This time, he made a little bit of history in the process.
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The No. 17 Red Storm’s 87-82 overtime victory against the Musketeers at Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday, Feb. 9 was the 904th of the elder Pitino’s lengthy head-coaching career, breaking a tie with Roy Williams for the third-most all-time wins in Division I.
REQUIRED READING: Takeaways from Xavier Musketeers overtime loss to No. 17 St. John’s
The 73-year-old Pitino now trails only Mike Krzyzewski (1,202 wins) and Jim Boeheim (1,116).
It’s the second time Pitino has earned a landmark victory at the expense of his son. St. John’s’ 88-83 win at Xavier on Jan. 24 was the 900th of his career.
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“I think my son’s brilliant,” Pitino said after the win Monday. “I’m proud of him. I hate getting any milestone against him – but I go away tonight saying my son’s a hell of a coach. … To say my son’s a great coach is much more pleasing to me than any number of victories.”
Richard Pitino, who previously coached under his father at Louisville, is in his first season at Xavier, which fell to 12-12 after Monday’s loss.
Many of Rick Pitino’s wins came at a pair of college basketball powerhouses (and archrivals), Kentucky and Louisville. He went 219-50 in seven seasons with the Wildcats and 416-143 in 16 seasons with the Cardinals, with an ill-fated stint as the Boston Celtics’ head coach and president wedged in between. He won a national championship at both Kentucky and Louisville, making him the only men’s college basketball head coach to win titles at multiple schools.
Pitino was fired by Louisville in 2017 after the Cardinals were implicated in the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. After a brief exile from the sport, he returned as Iona’s head coach in 2020 and is currently in his third season at St. John’s, where he has gone 70-23. Last season, the Red Storm won the Big East regular season and tournament championships, earning them a No. 2 seed to the NCAA Tournament.
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Pitino has also coached at Hawaii (as an interim head coach), Boston University and Providence, the last of which he led to a Final Four in 1987.
After a difficult start to the season, Pitino’s St. John’s team has won 10 consecutive games, improving its record to 19-5 and putting it atop the Big East standings.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rick Pitino passes Roy Williams for third on career wins list
