St. John’s and Rick Pitino are in agreement on a restructured contract that will add a year to his current deal, according to sources.
The two sides have been talking for quite some time about the deal, which will not only include a significant pay raise for Pitino that will make him the league’s second-highest-paid coach after Connecticut’s Dan Hurley, but also for his entire coaching staff.
The latter was the final sticking point in the deal.
Reached by The Post, Pitino said he is going to take some time over the next week to make sure he wants to continue coaching. But all indications are that it is something he plans to continue doing, and he wouldn’t have signed the new deal otherwise.
Entering the season, The Post reported that Pitino was the sixth-highest paid coach in the Big East. The initial deal was worth roughly $20 million over six years, sources said.
Pitino has turned around St. John’s in three years, leading the program to back-to-back outright Big East regular season titles and consecutive Big East Tournament crowns. Both were program-firsts.
This March, the Johnnies reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
Several times this year, Pitino has said it will either be St. John’s or retirement, and he certainly isn’t slowing down.
After winning his 900th game this year, he said he could envision getting to 1,000 if he remains healthy.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
