Rick Pitino is historically known as one of the best coaches in college basketball history. With 753 career wins (does not account for vacated wins), two national championships, seven Final Fours and 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, it is impossible to deny the success he has had on the sidelines.
However, when it comes to the top motivators in the sport of college basketball, Pitino is also near the top of the list. Need proof?
Check out this fiery halftime speech Pitino delivered to his St. John’s team earlier this season, compliments of Vice Sports.
Zach Brazillier of The New York Post shared the following clip from “Pitino: Red Storm Rising,” a Vice Sports series. The video, which was taken during halftime of the St. John’s-Providence game back on Dec. 20, has taken the internet by storm this week.
“Dig in and be a basketball player,” Pitino demands of his team. “Dig in. Every time you miss a shot, your game deflates. We don’t care about your missed shots. Play f***ing defense.”
Pitino went on to compare his team’s first-half performance to children, with bad things happening.
“Instead of digging in and being tougher, you wilt,” Pitino added. “Where is your f***ing toughness? Where have you guys been raised that you’re so weak mentally that you just f***ing give up when something doesn’t go right for you? Don’t you know what adversity is all about? That’s the f****ing game of life. Not the game of basketball.”
Pitino’s heated message was in reference to his team’s first-half performance, as St. John’s trailed unranked Providence 42-29 at halftime.
“You don’t f***ing go down when things go wrong. You dig in and get tougher. Your whole life’s gonna be adversity. Learn how to F***ing deal with it.”
Pitino’s message got across to his players as St. John’s outscored Providence 43-28 in the second half and went on to defeat the Friars, 72-70, and improve to 10-2 overall.
FOX Sports’ social media team was able to take the video from Vice Sports and sync it with the game footage from the win, helping paint the picture of what an impact Pitino’s message had on his team and how they responded on the court.
The video shows junior big man Zuby Ejiofor grabbing a rebound and hitting the game-winning shot with one second remaining to lead the Red Storm to victory. The win was especially meaningful to Pitino, who coached at Providence from 1985-87, helping lead the Friars to the Final Four during the 1986-87 season.
As for this season, St. John’s has won 12 of its last 14 games since that night, sitting at 22-4 overall and 13-2 in Big East play. The Red Storm are currently ranked No. 10 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll and are projected as a No. 4 seed in FOX Sports’ bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy’s latest NCAA Tournament projections.
Pitino’s St. John’s team is set to take on DePaul at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday on FS1.
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