NEW YORK — Rick Pitino was honored Wednesday night by St. John’s for reaching 900 wins as a Division I head coach.
Moments before the 25th-ranked Red Storm attacked Butler, a tribute to Pitino featuring a montage of Hall of Fame highlights played on the large video screens hanging from the roof of Madison Square Garden.
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St. John’s vice president and athletic director Ed Kull then presented Pitino with a framed jersey at center field.
Pitino, 73, became fourth division I men’s basketball coach earn 900 victories on the field when the Johnnies rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit Saturday to a 88-83 victory at Xavier.
The others are Mike Krzyzewski (1,202), Jim Boeheim (1,116) and Roy Williams (903).
Pitino’s historic victory came against his son, Richard, the Musketeers’ first-year coach.
Pitino entered Wednesday night’s game 900-316 overall in 38 seasons, starting with six games in an interim role at Hawaii in 1976. However, the NCAA credits Pitino with only 777 wins after stripping him of 123 due to infractions while he was coaching at Louisville.
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Pitino also had stops at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Iona, held NBA jobs with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, as well as a stint with Greek team Panathinaikos.
Now in his third season at St. John’s, the reigning AP National Co-Coach of the Year has appeared in seven Final Fours and is the only coach to take six schools to the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s, ranked fifth in the preparatory poll, moved back to AP Top 25 Monday for the first time since mid-December following wins over Seton Hall and Xavier last week. In both games, the Red Storm trailed by at least 15 in the second half.
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