After defeating Creighton in the Big East Championship on Saturday, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino has every right to celebrate what was the best season for the Red Storm in over two decades. And in a conversation with the Fox studio team after the game, he outlined exactly how he plans to enjoy his big victory.
While talking with Rob Stone, Casey Jacobsen, and Donny Marshall, Pitino was asked by Stone, “How to you plan to celebrate tonight?”
“I’m gonna drink a quart of Jameson’s,” replied Pitino.
How does Rick Pitino plan on celebrating the Big East Tournament win?
“I’m gonna drink a quart of Jameson’s.”pic.twitter.com/87RMwqR4WP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2025
It is almost St. Patrick’s Day, so it’s certainly the correct season to be indulging in some Jameson’s. But chances are, Pitino’s celebration time will be kept to a minimum considering the Red Storm will soon learn their fate on Selection Sunday for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Pitino’s focus will shortly shift to how he can get St. John’s to the National Championship, a feat that hasn’t been done by the program since 1952. As far as winning a National Championship, that has never been done at St. John’s.
On paper, it sure seems like this is perhaps the program’s best chance to do just that, considering all of the postseason success Rick Pitino has under his belt.
While the Red Storm came into the season picked to come in fifth in the Big East Conference, they were pretty clearly the best team in the conference, finishing the season with an 18-2 conference record and a 30-4 overall record. Saturday’s matchup against Creighton was perhaps validation for some that St. John’s terrific year has been no fluke, thoroughly dominating en route to a 82-66 victory.
So it should certainly be interesting to see whether there is another significant celebration in store for Pitino by the end of the NCAA Tournament.
