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On Jan. 10, St. John’s was 4-1 to start Big East play for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The thought was that first-year head coach Rick Pitino’s Red Storm wasn’t just an NCAA Tournament team, but would be playing for seeding going forward. 

What a difference five weeks has made. The Red Storm are 2-8 in their last 10 games, with one of those wins being against lowly DePaul. On Sunday, a loss to Seton Hall encapsulated this team’s slide to being out of the NCAA Tournament picture and needing a serious winning streak to close the regular season just to be considered. 

The Johnnies lost a 38-19 lead against Seton Hall, with the Pirates outscoring them 39-21 in the second half. Al-Amir Dawes and Kadary Richmond combined for 37 points to beat the Red Storm, 68-62. It was the biggest gut punch of the season for SJU, which was well in control of the game but scored just four points in the opening 12 minutes of the second half. 

As a result, Pitino did not hold back in his postgame remarks.

“I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime,” said the 71-year-old, who is in his 48th year of coaching. “We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling. If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year.” 

But Pitino didn’t stop there. He took it a step further, criticizing his players’ lack of athleticism:

“Joel (Soriano’s) slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady (Dunlap’s) physically weak, and Drissa (Traore) is slow laterally.”

Pitino and his staff overturned the roster over the offseason, watching impact players like Posh Alexander walk to Butler and AJ Storr leave for Wisconsin, where he leads the Badgers in scoring. 

Pitino elected to bring in 12 new players and make sweeping changes after Mike Anderson was fired after four years without a tournament appearance.

“We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited,” Pitino said. “We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”

Pitino also unleashed on St. John’s facilities, calling them “s-y” in his press conference. 

These types of comments come with the territory with Pitino, who is an old-school coach and is unafraid to speak his mind. But in a season that he’s been “disappointed with throughout the whole year,” these comments were bold and crossed into a place few coaches tread in 2024.

If St. John’s is going to salvage anything from this season, it has to win Wednesday when it visits Georgetown at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. The Red Storm need that one, then have one last elite chance to boost their résumé against top-20 ranked Creighton on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. 

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on X at @John_Fanta.

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