Rick Pitino Inducted in 2006
Rick Pitino
Pitino basketball journey began in his hometown of Long Island, NY he led from the very start of his basketball career as a player and now as a coach. He was the team captain of the St. Dominic High School basketball team in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Pitino later enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. There he was a standout point guard for the Minutemen basketball team. Pitino held the tenth spot at UMass for career assists, with 329, until another NYer Chaz Williams (2011-2014) became the leader in career assists following his final season with the Minutemen. He led the team in assists as a junior and senior The 168 assists as a senior is the eighth-best single-season total ever there.
Pitino's leadership on the court led him into a coaching career, he was the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA Division I and in the NBA, including Boston University(1978–1983), Providence College (1985–1987), the New York Knicks (1987–1989), the University of Kentucky (1989–1997), the Boston Celtics (1997–2001), the University of Louisville (2001–2017), Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague (2018–2020), and Iona University (2020–2023). He is now the current coach head coach for St. John's Red Storm 2023.
Pitino has a rich history of winning NCAA Tournament champion (1996, 2013*), NCAA Regional champion – Final Four (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*), AAC Tournament champion (2014*), AAC regular-season champion (2014*), Big East regular season champion (2009, 2013*), 3× Big East tournament champion (2009, 2012*, 2013*), 2× C-USA Tournament champion (2003, 2005), C-USA regular season champion (2005), 5× SEC Tournament champion (1992–1995, 1997), 2× SEC regular season champion (1995, 1996), America East tournament champion (1983), 2× America East regular season champion (1980, 1983), 2× Greek League champion (2019 and 2020), Greek Cup winner (2019), 2× MAAC tournament champion (2021, 2023), and 2× MAAC regular season champion (2022, 2023).
Accomplishments and honors Adolph Rupp Cup (2009), 2× MAAC Coach of the Year (2022, 2023), C-USA Coach of the Year (2005), 3× SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1996), John Wooden National Coach of the Year (1987), NABC Coach of the Year (1987), and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (1999).
Pitino's leadership on the court led him into a coaching career, he was the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA Division I and in the NBA, including Boston University(1978–1983), Providence College (1985–1987), the New York Knicks (1987–1989), the University of Kentucky (1989–1997), the Boston Celtics (1997–2001), the University of Louisville (2001–2017), Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague (2018–2020), and Iona University (2020–2023). He is now the current coach head coach for St. John's Red Storm 2023.
Pitino has a rich history of winning NCAA Tournament champion (1996, 2013*), NCAA Regional champion – Final Four (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*), AAC Tournament champion (2014*), AAC regular-season champion (2014*), Big East regular season champion (2009, 2013*), 3× Big East tournament champion (2009, 2012*, 2013*), 2× C-USA Tournament champion (2003, 2005), C-USA regular season champion (2005), 5× SEC Tournament champion (1992–1995, 1997), 2× SEC regular season champion (1995, 1996), America East tournament champion (1983), 2× America East regular season champion (1980, 1983), 2× Greek League champion (2019 and 2020), Greek Cup winner (2019), 2× MAAC tournament champion (2021, 2023), and 2× MAAC regular season champion (2022, 2023).
Accomplishments and honors Adolph Rupp Cup (2009), 2× MAAC Coach of the Year (2022, 2023), C-USA Coach of the Year (2005), 3× SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1996), John Wooden National Coach of the Year (1987), NABC Coach of the Year (1987), and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (1999).