The St. John’s men’s basketball coach earned his 900th career on-court win with an 88-83 win over Xavier on Saturday, Jan. 24, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
His 900th career on-court win came against his son, Richard Pitino, who is in his first season with the Musketeers after coming over from New Mexico. The elder Pitino is now 4-1 all-time against his son as a coach.
‘I’ve got a great family, great wife, who have kept me young,’ Rick Pitino told TNT’s Andy Katz after the game on how he’s been able to win 900 on-court wins. ‘They allow me to work with these guys, 12, 13 hours a day, and I’m just enjoying it more than ever. Great group, great group to coach.’
It didn’t look like the latest accolade for the Hall of Fame coach was going to happen on Saturday as Xavier pushed its 49-37 halftime lead to 16 points at the 17:05 mark of the second half following a pair of free throws from All Wright.
However, like they have for much of this season, St. John’s willed its way to a gritty win by outscoring the Musketeers 51-34 in the second half to earn the come-from-behind victory. Dylan Darling hit a big 3-pointer for the Red Storm with 53 seconds remaining in the second half to start a 7-1 run to finish the game.
St. John’s keeps itself one game back of UConn in the Big East standings with a 8-1 conference record.
Here’s what to know about the accolade and group of Division I men’s basketball head coaches that Rick Pitino joined on Saturday:
Division I men’s basketball coaches with 900 wins
With his 900th win on Saturday, Pitino is the seventh men’s basketball coach to win 900 games in his career. Here’s a look at the other coaches to acheive the feat:
Mike Krzyzewski: 1,202 wins
Jim Boeheim: 1,015 wins
Bob Huggins: 935 wins
Jim Calhoun: 920 wins
Roy Williams: 903 wins
Bob Knight: 902 wins
Rick Pitino: 900 wins
All-time winningest Division I men’s basketball coaches
With his 900th career win, Pitino moves into sole possession of fourth place among the all-time winningest Division I men’s basketball coaches. He entered the day tied with legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight.
‘I’m happy for him that he won 900. I think he’s the best coach to ever coach college basketball. He’d have a lot more if he stayed at Kentucky’ Richard Pitino said of his dad’s accolade. ‘When your dad is 73, you just want him to be healthy and happy. We’re all reminded way too much of how short life is. To see him doing great, coaching, being celebrated at St. John’s, that’s all I care about.’
Here’s where Pitino ranks among the winningest Division I men’s basketball coaches, as shown on the TNT broadcast:
Mike Krzyzewski: 1,202 wins
Jim Boeheim: 1,015 wins
Roy Williams: 903 win
Rick Pitino: 900 wins
Rick Pitino coaching career
Here’s a stop-by-stop breakdown of Rick Pitino’s coaching career, which includes multiple college basketball programs and NBA organizations:
Head coach position unless noted otherwise
1974-1976: Hawaii (assistant)
1976-1978: Syracuse (assistant)
1978-1983: Boston University
1983-1985: New York Knicks (assistant coach) *
1985-1987: Providence
1987-1989: New York Knicks *
1989-1997: Kentucky
1997-2001: Boston Celtics *
2001-2017: Louisville
2018-2020: Panathinaikos **
2020-2023: Iona
2023-Present: St. John’s
* Denotes NBA job
** Denotes EuroLeague job
Rick Pitino coaching record
Career record: 900-316
NCAA Tournament record: 55-22
Final Four appearances: 1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*
National championships: 1996, 2013*
* Denotes vacated by NCAA
With St. Jon’s win over Xavier, Rick Pitino now holds a 900-316 overall record across his 38 seasons as a Division I men’s basketball head coach, including a 66-23 record in three seasons at St. John’s. He’s the lone Division I men’s basketball coach to take six different schools — Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John’s — to March Madness.
Of note, Pitino’s record does include the XXX wins and his 2013 national championship title that the NCAA vacated from his time at Louisville for a recruiting violation that was investigated by the FBI. He won his first national championship in 1996 during his eight-year stint at Kentucky.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
