Pitino had spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Iona Gaels, leading the men's basketball team to two NCAA tournament appearances.
St. John’s hired the Hall of Fame coach Monday to boost a storied program that’s been mired in mediocrity for much of this century.
Reports quickly surfaced that indicated St. John's planned to target Pitino, who grew up on Long Island not far from the school's Queens campus in New York City. He was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 after an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption led to allegations of NCAA violations. It was the third scandal, professional and personal, in an eight-year period with the Cardinals — but Pitino was eventually exonerated in the FBI-related case.
During that time, through several conference reconfigurations, St. John's has fallen behind Big East foes with similar profiles such as Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall. He took a surprising Providence team on a memorable run to the 1987 Final Four, but the 2013 national title Pitino won at Louisville was later vacated by the NCAA after an investigation found that an assistant coach paid escorts and exotic dancers to entertain players and recruits in campus dorms.
He said it would take "a special place" for him to consider leaving Iona, but he also spoke about how much he admired St. John’s president, the Rev. Brian Shanley, who previously worked at Providence.
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