Rick Pitino shuts down any UNC rumors – ‘St. John’s or retirement’

As long as Rick Pitino continues to coach college basketball, it will be at St. John’s and not North Carolina.

The 73-year-old Pitino is in his third season with the Red Storm and is committed to sticking with them for the remainder of his career. The legendary coach’s name came up as a potential replacement for Hubert Davis at North Carolina, prompting him to double down on his devotion to St. John’s.

Amid the swirling rumors, Pitino said, “It’s St. John’s or retirement for me,” via Adam Zagoria of NJ.com.

As a New York native, Pitino has referred to St. John’s as his dream job. He has spoken about his retirement before, admitting it could happen at any moment, but he wants to get the Red Storm a national championship before he calls it a career.

Pitino has no connection to the Tar Heels, but every big-name head coach is being dragged into the conversation after Davis’ unceremonious firing. Despite advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in just two of the last nine years, North Carolina remains one of the most decorated programs in college basketball.

Pitino currently has St. John’s in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. He has also led the Red Storm to back-to-back Big East regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history.

If Pitino can lead St. John’s to an upset of Duke, he will officially lead it to its best season since 1984-1985, when it last reached the Final Four. The Storm have only achieved four 30-win seasons in their 119 years of existence, with Pitino responsible for two of them.

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