Rick Pitino Apologizes for Ripping St. John's Players: Never Want to Embarrass Them

Four days after criticizing his team following a loss to Seton Hall, St. John's head coach Rick Pitino issued a public apology to the players on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after the Red Storm's 90-85 win over Georgetown, Pitino called his players and family "the most important thing in my life" and he "would never want to embarrass them or hurt them."

St. John's blew a 19-point lead in a 68-62 loss against Seton Hall on Sunday. Pitino ripped into not only his players, but the team's facilities after that defeat. He said they "lack toughness" as part of a rant about Chris Ledlum not getting to the free-throw line in 29 minutes.

Pitino described both Sean Conway and Drissa Traore as "slow laterally." Brady Dunlap was called "physically weak," and the roster was "so non-athletic that we cannot guard anyone without fouling."

The Hall-of-Fame coach called this season "the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime."

St. John's hired Pitino as its head basketball coach in March 2023. He was coming off a three-year run at Iona in which he went 64-22 and led the program to the NCAA tournament twice.

The Red Storm brought Pitino back to the Big East for the first time since 2012-13 when he was at Louisville. They were hoping he would be able to get the program back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

Pitino is 14-12 with five games remaining in the regular season. St. John's has a lower winning percentage this season than it did in 2022-23 under Mike Anderson (.545).

If the Red Storm want to make it into the 68-team field, they will most likely have to secure an automatic bid by winning the Big East tournament.