NCAA Basketball: 10 best head coaching hires of 2023 offseason

3. Rick Pitino (St. John’s)

There was a time when St. John’s was one of the nation’s better basketball programs but the Red Storm have been a shell of their former selves. This program has been in just three of the last 20 NCAA Tournaments and has struggled with consistency in the Big East. St. John’s made a major move this offseason in bringing a Hall of Famer to New York City.

Pitino has had quite the basketball career, and that’s putting it lightly. He won national championships at Kentucky in 1996 and at Louisville in 2013, though that second title was later vacated. He’s led three programs to a Final Four and has been head coach of both the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. Sidelined by scandal at Louisville, he bounced back nicely the last three years at Iona, taking the Gaels on a pair of trips to the Big Dance.

Pitino’s name alone is a major factor at St. John’s and he should be able to bring significant recruits and intrigue back to Red Storm basketball. Any program would be fortunate to get a coach with his pedigree, even if Pitino is already 70 years old and won’t be there long-term. It’s quite possible that he could elevate this program in the next few years and leave them in a much better place in the Big East. That alone makes this hire a home run.