Rick Pitino, St. John's Reportedly Agree to New Contract with 'Significant' Pay Raise After Sweet 16

St. John's and men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino have agreed to a new contract with a "significant" pay raise that will go through the 2029-30 season, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

The 73-year-old Pitino took over St. John's in 2023. The Red Storm have gone 81-25 under Pitino with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons, including a Sweet Sixteen trip this year.

To put Pitino's impact in perspective, St. John's only made the NCAA tournament three times in the 21 seasons prior to his arrival. St. John's had also won 30 or more games just twice in the program's history.

Pitino's last two teams have won 31 and 30 games, respectively, and both squads won the Big East title as well. The Red Storm previously hadn't won the Big East since 2000.

So it's no surprise that Pitino, who has 914 wins, seven Final Four appearances and a pair of national championships in 37 seasons as a college basketball head coach, got a new contract at St. John's.

There was speculation connecting Pitino to UNC after the Tar Heels parted ways with head coach Hubert Davis, but Pitino shot that down quickly in a phone conversation with Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media.

"It's St. John's or retirement for me," Pitino said.

Now Pitino has a new contract at St. John's as he looks to guide the Red Storm to their first Final Four since 1985 and first-ever national championship.