Rick Pitino Drawing 'Significant Interest' From Big East Program

Rick Pitino might be on his way to, once again, coaching a major college basketball team.

St. John's fired Mike Anderson Friday, and there is "significant interest" between the Big East program and Pitino, according to Jeff Goodman.

Pitino is in his third season at Iona, and has compiled an incredibly impressive 63-21 record.

Will Rick Pitino take the St. John's job?

There's long been speculation Pitino would eventually leave Iona for another big job. He was a dominant coach at Louisville before getting run out of town.

Louisville was accused of paying a player $100,000 under Pitino's watch, and ultimately, that cost him job.

If the same thing happened today, nobody would notice because NIL is now the era we live in. Just a few years ago, it wasn't, and the Cardinals ran the dominant coach out of town.

St. John's should pull the trigger on Pitino.

Fortune favors the bold. That's a simple rule in life. You can crush home runs if you don't swing for the fence.

Nobody really takes St. John's seriously as a contender. The last time the program won at least 21 games was during the 2018-2019 season. While Mike Anderson never had a sub-.500 year, the program didn't scare anyone under his watch.

Rick Pitino has won everywhere he's gone, and he has two national title rings. The 2013 title at Louisville was later vacated, but we all saw them win. It's ridiculous fans have to pretend like it didn't happen.

Pitino won at Kentucky, dominated at Louisville, is winning at Iona and can win at St. John's. It would also be great for college basketball to see Rick Pitino back on the big stage with a Big East team.

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David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.