It will be a family divided Sunday afternoon in the park.
Behind St. John's bench will sit Rick Pitino's daughter Jacqueline and son Ryan. At the other end of the floor behind the New Mexico bench will be Pitino's wife, Joan, and her sister and best friend, supporting Rick's son, Richard.
“[Joanne] “I told my son the other day, 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 you love me and how much you love Richard.”
It's a fun subplot to an interesting early-season game, as St. John's hosts undefeated No. 22 New Mexico in the NYC Hoops for Heroes Classic. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The elder Pitino spoke about New Mexico over the past week, saying St. John's (3-0) will have to play great to remain undefeated. Richard has heard this before. Rick always picks the first major opponent outside of the conference to build. Recently, Richard came to town for 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 training.
“I could tell all the players were looking at me, like we don't like this guy, because everyone [Rick] “What it does is create hype for your team like the Boston Celtics,” Richard recalls with a laugh. “I'm sure the players and staff are sick and tired of hearing about New Mexico.”
This will be the fourth time the two have trained against each other. Rick won the first two meetings while still in Louisville (versus Richard Florida International in 2012 and then Minnesota in 2014). Richard (42 years old) won the third confrontation in 2022 with New Mexico. After that game, the family had dinner, and Rick, known for letting losses eat him up, was gracious in defeat.
“We all went to Richard's house afterward. He was a great sport about it. He was so happy for him,” said Chris Pitino, one of Rick's five sons. “You could tell deep down he wasn't on cloud nine. Usually when he loses, don't say a word to him for a few days.
The family still jokes about the second encounter, which was a one-sided victory for Rick. “Richard walked right by him and gave him the old Jim Boeheim jab,” Rick joked. The family reminded Richard of this this week in the group chat.
Rick never wanted any of his sons to follow him into training. It was very isolated. Spending a lot of time away from family. Richard had no plans to coach himself until Mike Hart asked him to assist at St. Andrews School while attending Providence College.
Richard gave it a try and never looked back. He began his career at the College of Charleston as an administrative assistant under Tom Herron in 2004 and worked for his father in Louisville from 2007-09 and 2011-12 before landing his first head coaching job at FIU in 2012. He is now in his fourth season In New Mexico after eight years in Minnesota, with a chance to lead the Lobos to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
“I tried to discourage them all, and most of them listened except for Richard,” Rick said, later adding: “He had some really good jobs, but he did a great job. He left his mark everywhere he went. He worked with me. He worked with Billy Donovan He was a young coach at FIU and now he's settled in [at New Mexico]”.
The two are similar in their sarcastic wit and love of training. When asked about the possibility of losing on Sunday, Richard said he's not worried, because he's not worried about making the Hall of Fame one day. Rick scolded his son for never thanking him for Nelly Junior Joseph, the New Mexico forward who spent his first two years in college playing for the elder Pitino at Iona University. Rick did not recruit him to St. John's because he inherited Joel Soriano last year.
“I never thought about disowning my son. But it might come to that,” Rick joked.
The two are also very different, according to Chris. Richard is more of a players coach, not as strong as Rick. It motivates differently. It is more submissive in practice. He's outgoing like his father, but he's not a brawler. Richard got along with everyone, his brother said.
“One of the things I respect most about him is that he can achieve success while being so different [from my father]said Chris.
Richard and Rick echoed each other when it came to the actual game. It is important for their team, but because of the level of the opponent, not the other coach. Once the ball is thrown, it will be like another game. They won't be watching each other, they'll be trying to win. It's not like this is the first time they've trained on the other side.
“People think this is a hard game, but it's actually not a hard game,” Rick said. “If we lose, my team will be disappointed, but I will be very happy for my son. I hope St. John's wins, but if we don't, I will be a proud father.”
