Calipari Predicted Having To Face “Him”
Legendary coaches will clash when Rick Pitino and St. John’s takes on John Calipari and his Arkansas squad in a highly anticipated matchup on Saturday. The first round of the tournament saw a possible Bill Self or John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino matchup in round two before Calipari’s Razorbacks defeated Kansas. Now the stage is set for a clash between two coaches that are no strangers to facing each other. They battled for years when Pitino coached Louisville and Calipari was coaching Kentucky, with Calipari coming out ahead in their career matchups 13-10. While they’ve had many games against each other, Pitino doesn’t see Calipari as his rival.
“There’s only one coach I have considered a rival in my whole career, and I have been blessed to coach against Frank McGuire in his last game, while also coaching against Dean Smith… The only one I had a strong rivalry with, and today I respect him as much as anybody in the game was Jim Calhoun. We hated each other at BU and Northeastern … hated each other. And there were 300 people in each arena.”
So clearly Rick Pitino isn’t sweating over going against a force of nature like Calipari and his Razorbacks team. Calipari meanwhile seems to talk about Pitino like he’s the boogeyman. While he didn’t reference Pitino by name, he told his team during a practice that they’d beat Kansas. Then they’d have to face “him” in the next round. The man who just led St. John’s to a conference championship and their first NCAA tournament win in a couple decades.
After the win, Pitino was asked about his early thoughts going into the matchup. “If he’s in 7th or 8th place and, on the bubble, I’m glad I’m not in the SEC!” When talking about his team’s 30-point win, he also remarked that the offensive rebounding and box outs were horrible. ” If we box out like that vs Arkansas we’ll lose by 30.”
John Calipari and Rick Pitino Career History
The matchup between St. John’s and Arkansas on Saturday will be historic. Between the two of them are five national championships, countless conference championships, and two hall of fame careers that have created dynasties.
John Calipari has a career record of 875-260 (.760) and has earned a mountain of accolades. He’s a 3-time Naismith Coach of the Year Award Winner, 4-time SEC Coach of the Year recipient, and 3-time ACC Coach of the Year winner. He’s established elite and dominant programs everywhere he’s went. He’s probably most well-known for his time at Kentucky, where the Wildcats won 6 total conference titles, made 3 Final Four appearances, and won a national title between 2010 and 2024.
Rick Pitino’s career record is similar at 884-310 (.740). He’s made a reputation out of taking every program he coaches to the NCAA tournament, no matter the state they were in prior to his arrival. His time both with St. John’s and his previous job at Iona was proof. In his three years with Iona, he won 2 conference titles and made 2 NCAA tournament appearances. In only his second year with St. John’s, he’s earned Big East Coach of the Year and led the Red Storm to their first NCAA tournament win in over two decades.
His most notable years were spent with Kentucky and Louisville. When he was coaching Kentucky from 1989-1997, the Wildcats won 5 conference championships, made 3 final four appearances, and won a national title. He then went on to have a legendary run with Louisville. Between 2001-2002, Louisville won 6 conference championships, made 3 final four appearances, and won a national title. He’s the only coach to take five different programs to the tourney and get a win.
Argument For Pitino To Be The G.O.A.T?
Colin Cowherd made his love for St. John’s and Rick Pitino known a few days ago during ‘The Herd With Colin Cowherd.’ He discusses Pitino’s March Madness appearances with six different programs, multiple Final Four appearances, and how he’s made champions out of “dumpster fires.”
“A team I’m rooting for this year is St. John’s, a dead program. I’m rooting for Rick Pitino, and I think they have a chance to win it… there is an argument that he is, along with John Wooden, Coach K and a few others, the greatest college basketball coach ever.”
If Pitino lands St. John’s in the Final Four in only his second year with the team, then Cowherd will have an even stronger case for him to be the official greatest of all time. Should Calipari defeat the Red Storm and end up in the Final Four or championship game, then his name could start coming up in that discussion as well.
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