Veteran college basketball coach Rick Pitino recently changed jobs, but now he’s making another big change.
The St. John’s head men’s basketball coach attended Sunday’s playoff game between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.
At one point in the game, the broadcast caught Pitino reciting his phone number to another person. Lip readers could choose what Pitino said, resulting in a flurry of incoming calls and text messages.
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Iona Gaels head coach Rick Pitino watches during the first half against the Connecticut Huskies during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at MVP Arena on March 17, 2023 in Albany, New York. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
«So yesterday I was enjoying the Knicks game and someone read my lips on TV giving my phone number,» Pitino wrote in a tweet.
«More than 300 messages arrived. This is the strange news, 95% of them were nice and positive. I got a lead about 7 new recruits. My new cell phone is…»
As of Tuesday night, Pitino’s post had racked up more than 1 million views.
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The 70-year-old’s career on Iona officially came to an end when he accepted the head coaching job at St. John’s in March.
St. John’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino attends Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on April 23, 2023 at the New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Since then, Pitino has been busy looking for personnel. Quinn Slazinski, Daniss Jenkins and Cruz Davis left Iona and joined Pitino in New York City.
Sean Conway committed to St. John’s last week and UConn’s Nahiem Alleyne announced last week on social media that he is transferring to St. John’s.
Pitino hopes that Red Storm will return to normal.
«It’s not going to be difficult,» Pitino said during his introductory news conference in March. «There’s no difference between St. John’s and Connecticut, St. John’s and Marquette, St. John’s and Xavier. St. John’s is one of the legendary names in college basketball. Has it fallen on hard times? Yes, it has, but now We are ready to live great moments».
St. John’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino and manager Spike Lee speak before Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on June 23. April 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Knicks defeated the Cavs 102-93 on Sunday to take a 3-1 series lead.
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The series returns to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday for Game 5.