Rick Pitino apologizes for comments after St. John's loss to Seton Hall

Following his comments after St. John’s fell to Seton Hall over the weekend, Rick Pitino apologized Wednesday night. His apology came after the Red Storm defeated Georgetown – despite a second-half scare – to snap a three-game losing streak.

Pitino apologized to St. John’s fans, coaches and players for his remarks after the Red Storm blew a 19-point lead against Seton Hall on Sunday. He criticized the facilities on campus, as well as the players’ lack of toughness.

“I want to apologize to any St. John’s fans,” Pitino said, via the New York Post’s Zach Braziller.

During his rant after the Seton Hall game, Pitino said the staff “lost this season in the way recruited” after overhauling the roster. As part of his apology Wednesday, he pointed out he was the one doing the recruiting and apologized for putting the blame on the staff.

“Understand something – I recruited this man, I recruited this man. My staff did not recruit these guys,” Pitino said. “It was all me. … And I’m really, really proud to have them. But I totally apologize to them for doing that. It was no intent. I was very calm, very collected and I wasn’t ripping them. That wasn’t my intent. But words matter. Words matter.

“I watch a lot of politics, and I see what these politicians say about each other and I cringe. Absolutely cringe, and say, Thank God, I’m a basketball coach. So I just want to briefly say my guys are the most important thing. My family and my players – outside of breathing air – they’re the most important thing in my life. That’s why I’m still coaching today. They are the air that I breathe, and I love them dearly. I would never want to embarrass them or hurt them. A couple of them certainly were, but they went out yesterday had the best practice of the year. So I’m real proud of that.”

One of the points Rick Pitino made after the Seton Hall game was multiple players’ inability to move laterally. The reason he said that was he doesn’t think NBA MVP Nikola Jokic can do that, either. He didn’t necessarily mean it as a knock.

That said, Pitino apologized for using specific names, and said it was just frustration boiling over.

“I went home, talked to my wife and came back and I said to my staff, ‘Anybody, guys, any of them upset?’ A couple of feelings are hurt,” Pitino said. “So I immediately went in the team and told them, I absolutely love you guys. I would never ever want to embarrass you. But it’s my bad. I’m at fault. I should have never mentioned to anybody by name, I didn’t mean it. I was trying to talk typical clinic talk, like I do.

“The slowest player in the league in the NBA is Jokic. He can’t move laterally. Some of the greatest players I’ve coached can’t move laterally. So I didn’t think that’s a big deal. But I should never, ever mention a name. I’m a veteran coach. I tell every young coach in the business, show class when you win, show class when you lose, give the other team credit. I’ve been really, really frustrated this year for a lot of different reasons.”