Richard Pitino poaches assistant from dad’s St. John’s staff

Rick Pitino tried avoiding facing Xavier Basketball and his son Richard Pitino ahead of the Big East Tournament. Now the son plucked from dad’s St. John’s coaching staff on Thursday.

CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein revealed who’s leaving Queens to join the other Pitino.

“Sources: Xavier’s Richard Pitino will hire St. John’s Greg Youncofski as an assistant coach. Youncofski — who was once an assistant at Cincinnati under Mick Cronin — now has the unique distinction of working for both the Bearcats and Musketeers,” Rothstein posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

Yes indeed Youncofski will coach at the second major basketball university in Cincy. But now he brings Sweet 16 experience via his previous stop.

He watched the elder Pitino galvanize the New York region in leading consecutive Big East title runs. This St. John’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. The Red Storm now locked in Pitino with a brand-new contract stretching to 2029-30.

Youncofski is on a steady coaching rise. He first joined the Red Storm as director of operations for 2024. The past national title winner elevated him to assistant coach one year later.

St. John’s rose to new heights with Youncofski on staff: Delivering outright Big East regular season and tournament titles, a first in program history. Youncofski helped oversee two Big East Player of the Year winners in Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis, the latter in 2025.

The incoming Xavier assistant went 161-47 with Cronin during his last run in Cincy, though with the Bearcats. He’ll aim for similar success with a new Pitino to work with.

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