St. John’s University head basketball coach Rick Pitino had the unique opportunity to coach a game against his son, Richard Pitino, on Sunday as the Red Storm took on the New Mexico Lobos.
The elder Pitino’s team looks to be one of the favorites in the Big East this season, going into the Lobos game ranked 22nd in the nation. So it was no surprise that St. John’s took care of business against New Mexico, who dropped to 3-1 on the season.
The father-son circumstances of the beat down had the Madison Square Garden crowd in a frenzy towards the end of the game.
Rick Pitino, the daddy of New Mexico’s Richard Pitino, did not enjoy the St. John’s crowd chanting, “Who’s your Daddy?” pic.twitter.com/uAawHpjHyQ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 17, 2024
“Who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy?” The crowd could be heard audibly on the FS1 broadcast.
Rick Pitino clearly took exception to the chant. He can be seen trying to quiet the crowd with his arms and mouthing the word “stop” multiple times.
Pitino was clearly uncomfortable with how the crowd handled the closing moments of the game. Of course, even when you play your son, one team has to lose.
It’s great for the sport of college basketball that games like this get scheduled. Hopefully a little playful banter from the MSG crowd doesn’t give Rick Pitino any reservations about playing his son again in the future.
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About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.