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St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino Admits He's Overpaid

Originally posted on The Spun | By Hunter Hodies | Last updated Mar 4, 2025 6:00 PM ET

St. John's head coach Rick Pitino is gearing up for another NCAA Tournament run.

St. John's leads the Big East with a 17-2 conference record and a 26-4 overall record heading into its final regular season game against Marquette on March 8. No matter what happens in that contest, St. John's will be the top seed going into the Big East Tournament and will have won the regular season conference title for the first time in four decades.

The Red Storm are the sixth-ranked team in the nation and are projected to be a three seed in the NCAA Tournament, per ESPN's Joe Lunardi's bracketology.

Pitino has done a tremendous job with the team, but he admitted on WFAN in New York that he's overpaid.

"I’m overpaid right now. They should take some money away from me. I don’t need anything," Pitino said, via Awful Announcing.

He could get some more cash from the Red Storm if he leads them deep into the 2025 NCAA Tournament. He's in his second season as head coach after finishing last season with a 20-13 record.

This will be the first time that the Red Storm have made the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season when they lost in the first-four round. They also haven't won an NCAA tournament game since the 2000 season.

Magic is in the air for Red Storm fans, and they hope they can see their team go on a run in this year's tournament. The Red Storm will go for their 27th win of the season at noon ET on Saturday against the Golden Eagles of Marquette.

The Big East Tournament will then get underway the following week before Selection Sunday occurs on March 16. That's when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will finalize the bracket for this year's NCAA Tournament.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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