Rick Pitino has faced his son, Richard, four times when they’ve both been head coaches, with Rick winning three of those games. For the foreseeable future, those matchups will become considerably more frequent. Richard Pitino recently took over as head coach at Xavier University, whose Musketeers play St. John’s twice during the regular season.
Both Pitinos were at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for Big East media day, but the real test begins on January 24, when St. John’s visits Xavier in Cincinnati. The teams will meet again on February 9, when Xavier plays at the Garden.
Richard said his father’s presence at St. John’s did not influence his decision to accept the job at Xavier, although the two are looking forward to seeing more of each other.
“It didn’t impact it,” Richard Pitino said. “Who knows how long he’s gonna coach? This is my 14th year of doing this. But also, it is unique — being in the league with him is different. But it’s also cool.”
Both coaches share the same goal: to finish on top.
“I came to the Big East because I want to win the Big East,” said Richard Pitino, who arrived at Xavier after eight years at Minnesota followed by four at New Mexico. At New Mexico, he led the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons.
At the Garden, both Pitinos attracted large crowds discussing their first season competing in the same conference.
“It’s exciting,” Rick Pitino said. “At Xavier, he’s going through the same thing I went through my first year at St. John’s — having to bring in 13 new players. Nobody stayed, and that’s difficult, so he’s gonna have a difficult season. But that’s to be expected just starting out.”
While the two are highly competitive, and their most recent meeting came last November when St. John’s beat New Mexico, they share an open and supportive relationship.
“We know everything about the other program,” Richard Pitino said. “When I flew up for a Yankees playoff game this month, I went to his practice. There are guys on his staff I’ve known a long time. I want them to do well.”
Their presence in the Big East continues a family legacy of affiliation with the conference. Few coaches are more familiar with the history of the Big East than Rick Pitino. He was the head coach at Providence in the mid-1980s when he reached the Final Four with the Friars in 1987.
Richard was barely older than a toddler then but remembers Providence fondly. Rick was also in his fifth season at Louisville when that program moved to the Big East two decades ago. Richard was an assistant coach at Louisville from 2007 to 2009.
Then there are the previous two seasons at St. John’s, where Rick now has the Red Storm ranked in the top five heading into the season. Meanwhile, Richard commands a roster at Xavier that’s almost entirely new from the team Sean Miller coached last year before departing for Texas.
“It’s great to have him in the league,” Rick Pitino said. “I’m his biggest fan, so it’s exciting to see. He earned it the old fashioned way: He worked.”
https://nypost.com/2025/10/21/sports/rick-richard-pitino-look-forward-to-new-big-east-family-rivalry/
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