Pitino Chronicles, Episode 4: The current state of college athletics

College Basketball

Published Feb. 22, 2024 11:38 a.m. ET

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

Editor’s Note: FOX Sports is publishing an exclusive interview series with Rick Pitino throughout the college basketball season, highlighting the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and the sport’s active winningest head coach as he takes over at St. John’s. In the fourth episode of our five-part series titled “The Pitino Chronicles,” we’re focusing on the current state of college sports. Watch Episode 4 below, and catch up on Episode 1 here, Episode 2 here and Episode 3 here.

* This interview series with Pitino was taped in November 2023, just days ahead of his St. John’s coaching debut.

Rick Pitino made national headlines this week following his candid statements about his first season as the head coach at St. John’s, and his team’s current flaws.

“I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime,” the 71-year-old Pitino said following his team’s 68-62 loss to Seton Hall on Sunday. “We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling. If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year.”

But Pitino did not stop there, singling out his players and criticizing their lack of athleticism:

“Joel [Soriano’s] slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally. Sean Conway is slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap] is physically weak, and Drissa (Traore) is slow laterally.”

After those eye-opening comments about his team on Sunday, Pitino’s Johnnies did snap a three-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 90-85 win over lowly Georgetown, who fell to 1-14 in Big East play. That being said, a win is a win at this point for the Red Storm, and Pitino used the postgame press conference to follow up on his remarks from the past weeekend.

“I went home and talked to my wife and came back and said to my staff, ‘Are any of the guys upset?’ and they said a couple of feelings are hurt,” Pitino said. “I immediately went to the team and told them ‘I love you guys, I would never want to embarrass you, but it’s my bad. I’m at fault.’ I should have never mentioned anybody by name. I didn’t mean it. I wasn’t ripping them. That wasn’t my intent, but words matter.

“I just want to briefly say this: My guys are the most important thing. My family and my players, outside of breathing air, they are the most important things in my life. That’s why I’m still coaching today. They are the air that I breathe, and I love them dearly. I would never want to embarrass them or hurt them. A couple of them certainly were, but they went out yesterday and had the best practice of the year.”

Pitino also apologized to the St. John’s fan base and the media for his harsh words on Sunday, in which he also called the university’s facilities “s—ty.”

“All of us know Coach [Pitino],” senior guard Jordan Dingle said following Wednesday’s win. “We know how much he loves us, cares about us and how much he cares about winning. I don’t think guys took [his comments] too much to heart, but there was a lot of talk about it, obviously. But I think it brought us closer together as a unit. We love each other and all we have is all we got. All we have is all we need.”

As for the topic on Episode 4 of “The Pitino Chronicles,” the Hall of Famer spoke about the current climate of college sports and the effects of name, image and likeness dollars across the country.

“We’re no longer coaching amateurs, we’re coaching professional basketball players now,” Pitino said. “Name, image and likeness has afforded the opportunity to these young men to now make a living playing college basketball. I don’t know how we’re going to sustain this. Some coaches are just non-stop whiners and complainers about it. Here’s how I look at it – these are the rules that we have to play by. The way I look at it, I want to adopt the rules and be the best at it. I’m not going to complain about it.”

Pitino went on to give his thoughts on the NCAA, which he has had his own battles with throughout his career, and the changes he would make to the organization. These proposed changes come at a unique time in college sports, with Tennessee and Virginia filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, challenging its ban on the use of name, image and likeness compensation in the recruitment of college athletes.

“Well, I would immediately get rid of the enforcement staff at the NCAA. They’re no longer needed,” Pitino said. “And I don’t mean they’re not good people, but I’d get rid of that and make conferences in charge of enforcement. The conferences know more than them [the NCAA], like they did with Michigan football [with Jim Harbaugh]. The conference’s athletic directors took that over. Conferences need to police their own.”

Pitino also weighed in on the 20-hour rule, which places a limit on how long players can conduct formal team activities and practices per week, while also speaking on the transfer portal chaos of the offseason.

“You can’t pay athletes and tell them how long they should practice,” Pitino said. “They’re professionals now. It’s no longer, ‘You’re taking away from academic time or social time.’ That’s nonsense.”

As for what’s next on the hardwood for Pitino and his team, the Red Storm have a must-win game at Noon ET Saturday inside Madison Square Garden against No. 15 Creighton. A victory would go a long way in helping his team’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Watch Episode 4 of “The Pitino Chronicles” below and follow along at FOXSports.com and on social media, @CBBonFOX, for details on the upcoming release of Episode 5 of the five-part series.

Pitino Chronicles: Rick Pitino speaks on NIL in College Basketball

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on X at @John_Fanta.