Knicks' Tom Thibodeau Sends Message About St. John's, Rick Pitino After NCAA Tournament Loss

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Evan Massey | Last updated Mar 23, 2025 1:21 PM ET

The St. John's Red Storm and head coach Rick Pitino saw their season come to an end on Saturday at the hands of John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

It was a tough way to end what was an amazing season for the program.

With the season now over, Pitino was able to lead St. John's to an impressive 31-5 record. While they didn't get where they wanted to go, the future is incredibly bright for the Red Storm.

Pitino leading the way will give St. John's a chance to continue making runs at a national championship in the coming years.

Following the season-ending loss, New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke out about the Red Storm and Pitino.

As shared by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Thibodeau sent a message about the run St. John's had under the leadership of Pitino.

“I follow from afar,” Thibodeau said of St. John’s. “I watch them whenever I can. They had a heck of a season. Rick [Pitino] has done an incredible job there. The program is on its way. They had a phenomenal year.”

He also was bluntly honest about how tough the NCAA Tournament can be.

“The tournament is the tournament,” Thibodeau said. “One and done.”

Pitino spoke out about the loss as well, offering an outlook of hope for the program.

“I hope [this season] does a lot [for the program],” Pitino said. “I’ve had a lot of tough losses and I’ve had a lot of great victories in the NCAA and it always ends with you hating this moment. It always ends that way. It never ends… we didn’t play a great brand of offensive basketball and that’s disappointing, but overall I’m grateful for [Eijofor, Luis, and Richmondt], guys that gave me everything they had.

"They were the reason for the turnaround that St. John’s had winning a regular season and winning a tournament. I’m just very, very thankful for them.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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