Rick, Richard Pitino look forward to new Big East family rivalry

Rick Pitino has faced his son, Richard, four times when they’ve been head coaches, with Rick winning three of those games.

For the foreseeable future, those matchups will be considerably more frequent: Richard Pitino took over at Xavier, whose Musketeers play St. John’s twice during the regular season.

Both Pitinos were at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for Big East media day, but the real test begins on Jan. 24, when St. John’s visits Xavier in Cincinnati, while Xavier will be at the Garden on Feb. 9.

Richard said his father’s presence at St. John’s did not play a role in him accepting the job at Xavier, although the two are looking forward to seeing more of each other.

“It didn’t impact it,” Richard Pitino said. “Who knows how long he’s gonna coach? This is my 14th year of doing this … [but] also, it is unique, being in the league with him is different. But it’s also cool.”

And they both want to finish on top. 

“I came to the Big East because I want to win the Big East,” said Richard Pitino, who arrived at Xavier after eight years at Minnesota followed by four at New Mexico, where he got to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons.

Both Pitinos drew large crowds at the Garden on Tuesday regarding their first season in the same conference.

“It’s exciting,” Rick Pitino said. “At Xavier, he’s going through the same thing I went through my first year [at St. John’s], having to bring in 13 new players. Nobody stayed and that’s difficult, so he’s gonna have a difficult season. But that’s to be expected, just starting out.”

And while they are competitive, with their most recent meeting coming last November, when St. John’s beat New Mexico, they’re not hiding from each other.

“We know everything about the other program,” Richard Pitino said. “When I flew up for a Yankees playoff game [this month], I went to his practice. There are guys on his staff I’ve known a long time. I want them to do well.”

This is all part of their family’s affiliation with the conference, since there are few coaches more familiar with the history of the Big East than Rick Pitino. He was the head coach at Providence in the mid-1980s, when he reached the Final Four with the Friars in 1987.

Richard Pitino was barely older than a toddler then, but remembers Providence fondly.

And Rick was in his fifth season at Louisville when that program moved to the conference two decades ago, with Richard an assistant there for three seasons from 2007-09.

Then there’s been the previous two seasons at St. John’s.

Now, Rick has the Red Storm ranked in the top five heading into the season and his son is at the helm of a roster that’s almost entirely new from the one Sean Miller coached last year before bolting for Texas.

“It’s great to have him in the league,” Rick Pitino said. “I’m his biggest fan, so it’s exciting to see. He earned it the old fashioned way: He worked.”