It will be a family divided Sunday afternoon at the Garden.
Behind the St. John’s bench will sit Rick Pitino’s daughter Jacqueline and son Ryan. At the other end of the floor behind New Mexico’s bench will be Pitino’s wife, Joanne, her sister and best friend, supporting Rick’s son Richard.
“[Joanne] told my son the other day, that Richard there’s no doubt who I’m rooting for, it’s you,” Rick said. “You’re my blood and he’s not. It shows you how much she loves me and how much she loves Richard.”
It is a fun subplot to an interesting early season game, as No. 22 St. John’s hosts undefeated New Mexico in the NYC Hoops for Heroes Classic. A portion of proceeds will go to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The elder Pitino has been talking up New Mexico over the last week, saying St. John’s (3-0) will have to play great to remain unbeaten. Richard has heard this before. Rick always picks the first major non-conference opponent to build up. Recently, Richard came to town to attend a Yankees World Series game with his father, a season-ticket holder. Upon arriving in New York City, Rick told him to come to St. John’s to meet him. The team was still practicing.
“I can tell all the players were looking at me, like we don’t like this guy, because all [Rick] does is hype up your team like the Boston Celtics,” Richard recalled with a laugh. “I’m sure the players and the coaching staff are sick and tired of hearing about New Mexico.”
This will mark the fourth time the two have coached against one another. Rick won the first two meetings when he was still at Louisville (vs. Richard’s Florida International team in 2012 then Minnesota in 2014). Richard, 42, won the third encounter in 2022 with New Mexico. After that game, the family had dinner, and Rick, known to let losses eat at him, was gracious in defeat.
“We all went to Richard’s house afterwards. He was a great sport about it. He was actually very happy for him,” said Chris Pitino, one of Rick’s five children. “You can tell deep down he wasn’t on cloud nine. When he usually loses, you don’t say two words to him for a couple of days.”
The family still jokes about the second meeting, a one-sided victory for Rick. Richard whizzed right past him, giving him the old Jim Boeheim blow-by, Rick joked. The family has reminded Richard about that this week on the group chat.
Rick never wanted any of his children to follow him into coaching. It was too isolating. Too much time spent away from the family. Richard wasn’t planning to coach himself until Mike Hart asked him to help out at St. Andrews School while he was attending Providence College.
Richard gave it a shot and has never looked back. He got his start at the College of Charleston as an administrative assistant under Tom Herrion in 2004 and worked for his father at Louisville from 2007-09 and 2011-12 before getting his first head-coaching job at FIU in 2012. Now, he’s in his fourth season at New Mexico following an eight-year stint at Minnesota, with a chance to lead the Lobos to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2013-14.
“I tried to discourage all of them, and most of them listened except Richard,” Rick said, later adding: “He’s had some really good jobs, but he’s done a great job. He’s left his mark at every place he’s been. He’s worked with me. He’s worked with Billy Donovan. He’s been a young head coach at FIU. And now he’s settled in [at New Mexico].”
The two are similar in their dry sarcastic wit and love for coaching. Asked about the possibility of losing on Sunday, Richard said he’s not concerned, because it’s not like he’s worried about getting into the Hall of Fame one day. Rick chided his son for never thanking him for Nelly Junior Joseph, New Mexico’s starting forward who spent his first two years in college playing for the elder Pitino at Iona University. Rick didn’t recruit him to St. John’s because he inherited Joel Soriano last year.
“I’ve never thought about disowning a son. But it may come to that,” Rick joked.
The two are also very different, according to Chris. Richard is more of a player’s coach, not as intense as Rick. He motivates differently. He is more subdued in practice. He is outgoing like his father, but is not a yeller. Richard gets along with everyone, his brother said.
“That’s one of the things I respect most about him is that he’s able to be successful while being completely different [from my father],” Chris said.
Richard and Rick echoed one another when it came to the actual game. It is significant for their teams, but because of the caliber of the opponent, not the other coach. Once the ball is tipped, it will be like another game. They won’t be watching one another, they will be trying to win. It’s not as if this is the first time they will be coaching on opposite sidelines.
“People think this is a tough game — it’s actually not a tough game,” Rick said. “If we lose, my team will be disappointed, but I’ll be very happy for my son. I hope St. John’s wins, but if we don’t, I’ll be a proud father.”