Rick Pitino Reacts to St. John’s NCAA Tournament Snub
St. John’s won’t be playing in the postseason this year after failing to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament and rejecting a potential invitation to the National Invitation Tournament.
Red Storm coach Rick Pitino discussed his thoughts on the situation not long after learning his team’s fate Sunday evening, lamenting the “fraudulent” NET ranking system before offering some insight into his team’s season.
“We’re 32 in the NET. First of all, I think we should all probably never mention that word again because I think it’s fraudulent,” said Pitino, via SNY. “I think the NET is something that shouldn’t even be mentioned anymore. … We were 26th in KenPom, so I don’t know. We tried to play a tough schedule. We tried to do things the right way, and we didn’t get in.”
Rick Pitino calls NCAA's NET rankings system "fraudulent" in explaining why St. John's wasn't selected to the 2024 NCAA Tournament pic.twitter.com/JtFiALEjZc
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 17, 2024
Pitino went on to say his team planned to take missing the NCAA tournament on the chin and move on.
“[The committee] didn’t think we measured up to their standards, and we’ll take it very positively like men and move forward. We’re not going to gripe. We’re not going to say we got screwed. None of that helps. Bitterness does not help. I’ve had enough bitterness in my life to last a lifetime,” said Pitino.
St. John’s, in Pitino’s first season as coach of the program, ended the year 20–13, having bowed out in the semifinal of the Big East tournament at the hands of UConn. The Red Storm had won six games in a row prior to that loss, but their late push ahead of the tournament wasn’t enough to sway the committee.