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Rick Pitino has ended up at the center of plenty of strange stories over the course of his coaching career, and we have a new entry in the canon due to a robbery that was reportedly orchestrated by thieves who targeted his office at St. John’s.
No one would’ve blamed Rick Pitino for riding off into the sunset after his time at Louisville came to a pretty shocking end in 2017 due to the explosive recruiting scandal that led to the school swiftly cutting ties with a man who’d helmed the Cardinals for 16 seasons.
However, as is the case with many people in his line of work, Pitino’s passion for basketball led to him effectively entering exile in Europe while coaching Greek juggernaut Panathinaikos for a couple of years before heading back to the United States to stage a comeback at Iona.
The legendary head coach posted a 64–22 record with the Gaels, and in 2023, he made his grand return to the Big East after he was tapped to replace Mike Anderson as the man in charge at St. John’s.
Pitino wrapped up his first season in Queens with a 20-13 record, and the Red Storm turned down the chance to play in the NIT after being excluded from March Madness following a run at the end of the season that made them an NCAA Tournament bubble team.
While the offseason has been fairly uneventful for Pitino and Co., that all changed on Tuesday thanks to a robbery that unfolded inside Carnesecca Arena.
According to The New York Post, the NYPD is currently on the hunt for two men who made off with $375 worth of items that were reportedly stolen from Pitino’s office inside the arena, including an autographed basketball, a miniature bullhorn, bottles of alcohol, and a ceremonial sword they allegedly swiped before fleeing on a moped.
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Pitino’s second season at St. John’s will tip off when they host Fordham at the scene of the crime on November 4th.