Rick Pitino has excelled at coaching the St. John’s Red Storm, and on Thursday he gave his comedy chops a try during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
The first St. John’s coach to lead the Red Storm to an outright Big East regular-season title in 40 years appeared on the NBC late-night show, and joked about everything from how long he’s been coaching to agreeing to return to the show if the Johnnies with the NCAA Tournament.
He also shared a story about how he snuck away on his wedding night to interview for a job with legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
Jimmy, the @StJohnsBBall team & Coach @RealPitino sing a sea shanty about their team 🌊🏀 #FallonTonight #RedStorm pic.twitter.com/XgIFUxovhl
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) March 7, 2025
Rick Pitino chats with Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s “Tonight Show.” Todd Owyoung/NBC
While St. John’s players did not appear with Pitino during the interview with Fallon, they starred in a prerecorded sketch that aired at the start of the show, featuring them singing a sea shanty with Pitino donning his signature white suit.
Pitino is in his second season coaching at St. John’s, and the legendary coach said during the interview that he had been coaching basketball for 50 years. “I just turned 101,” he said, which drew laughter from the crowd.
Rick Pitino is pictured with Jimmy Fallon. Todd Owyoung/NBC
Pitino also drew a bit of laughter — and some shock — when Fallon asked him about the wedding night interview.
The Johnnies coach confirmed its authenticity before retelling the tale.
Rick Pitino arrives at 30 Rock for his St. John’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon tonight!
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) March 6, 2025
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
“I said, ‘I’m gonna leave you just for an hour,” ” Pitino recalled. “We’re going to Hawaii the next night on our honeymoon and I said, ‘I’m gonna meet this gentleman, I’ll be right back up.’ I excused myself and about an hour and a half later I called her up and I said, ‘Honey just open the [wedding] envelopes, I’ll be right up.’ ”
Three hours later, Pitino said, he went back to his wife to tell her the good news that he had gotten the job, but there were two catches.
“One, it’s Syracuse, New York,” Pitino said he told her before she asked if that was the same place they get “122 inches of snow.”
Rick Pitino and Jimmy Fallon share a moment together. Todd Owyoung/NBC
St. John’s taking in the “Tonight Show” experience. Todd Owyoung/NBC
He then informed her of the other bad news, that there would be no honeymoon since he’d be starting the following day and heading to Cincinnati to recruit a player. “We never had a honeymoon to Hawaii, but we’ve had quite a few trips after that,” Pitino said, adding later that he’s been married to his wife for 48 years.
Pitino drew big applause when he walked onto the set and as he exited and waved to the crowd, with several members of the audience clearly excited to see the Red Storm coach.
The Johnnies are in the midst of a historic run this season having recorded a program record 17 Big East wins and becoming the first Red Storm team since 1984-85 to win the conference’s regular-season title outright.
St. John’s is getting ready for the Big East tourney. Todd Owyoung/NBC
The success has put big expectations on the Red Storm heading into the Big East Tournament next week and the NCAA Tournament later this month.
Fallon even extended an invite for Pitino to return “when” he wins March Madness — which was left out of the version of the interview that aired on TV Thursday night.
Pitino accepted, but was quick to point out that the Johnnies were missing a few players due to injury.
Earlier in the week, during an interview on WFAN, he acknowledged that St. John’s could be a team that goes in either direction come tournament time.
“We are a type of basketball team, we can definitely lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and we can definitely go to a Final Four,” Pitino said Monday.
