Rick Pitino Wins 2025 Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award

Rick Pitino was the best coach in men's college basketball during the 2024-25 season, at least in the eyes of those who vote on the Naismith Award.

The St. John's coach was named the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award winner on Sunday. He won over fellow finalists in Houston's Kelvin Sampson, Auburn's Bruce Pearl and Duke's Jon Scheyer, who all made the Final Four.

"I'm truly honored to be the recipient of the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year award, especially with the incredible coaching of the other finalists this past season," Pitino said in a press release.

"I want to thank my players and coaches for making this possible after a historic season for St. John’s Basketball. I am also grateful to the Atlanta Tipoff Club and the Naismith Awards selection committee for this prestigious honor."

This comes after Pitino and Pearl made history as the first men's college basketball coaches to ever share the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award for their respective efforts this season.

This caps off an incredible season for Pitino, who quickly turned things around at St. John's to establish the program as a Big East champion.

In just his second season at the job, Pitino led the Red Storm to a 31-5 overall record. The 31 wins tied a program record, while an 18-2 record in conference gave St. John's its first outright Big East championship in 40 years. 

Those 18 wins also tied last season's UConn team for the most wins in a regular season in Big East history.

St. John's wasn't done, as Pitino led the team to its first Big East tournament championship in 25 seasons and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. It was the first appearance in the Big Dance for the program since 2019.

The tournament started off in ideal fashion for the Red Storm with a 30-point victory over Omaha, marking their first NCAA tournament win since 2000.

It seemed to set the stage for a deep run, but they lost to 10th-seeded Arkansas in the second round thanks to a cold shooting night that saw the No. 2 seed go 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) from three-point range.

Still, it was an impressive overall season for Pitino and St. John's, and the Naismith Award serves as further validation and another accomplishment for one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history.

Pitino has stops with Hawai'i, Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John's on that resume that includes two national championships, seven Final Fours, 11 regular-season conference crowns and 15 conference tournament titles.

He is 51-18 in two seasons at St. John's and will look to continue building on the momentum created by his award-winning effort in 2024-25.