Report: St. John's 'intends' to finalize deal with Rick Pitino

Just hours after Iona’s season came to an end at the NCAA Tournament, Rick Pitino could be close to a new job. St. John’s “intends” to finalize a deal with Pitino, FOX Sports’ John Fanta reported Friday night.

Rumors have swirled connecting Pitino, 70, to the St. John’s opening since the Red Storm parted ways with Mike Anderson last week. Immediately after news of Anderson’s firing broke, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein immediately said Pitino was a strong candidate and reported St. John’s had already done background work on him. Now, the deal could come together “in the coming days,” according to Fanta’s report.

The news comes not long after Iona fell to UConn — appropriately, a Big East team — in the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels finished the season with a 27-8 record in Pitino’s third season at the helm. He took them to two NCAA Tournaments and an NIT appearance in that time.

In the postgame press conference, Pitino immediately faced a question about his future. He made it clear he was focused on the UConn game, but then was asked if he knew when he’d like to make a decision.

“Not really,” Pitino said. “You know, I really haven’t put any thought into it at all. I hear the question from you, and I think when you start thinking ahead, you always fail. We put a lot of effort into this game.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s right for me, another job. I don’t know that. It’s something, like I said before, I know you’re all alluding to St. John’s, but I’ve never seen St. John’s.”

Then, Pitino shared a story about when he and Providence played against St. John’s back when Billy Donovan was the point guard. He said that’s the last thing he remembers about the Red Storm.

“Somebody sent me a clip. If you go on YouTube, one of the funniest games of all time was 1987,” Pitino said. “There’s a loose ball out of bounds, we’re up one, and it goes out of bounds, and Louie’s going crazy saying there’s one second on the clock, one second on the clock, probably was. I got my team. I threw Billy Donovan in the shower. He said, ‘Coach, my shoes are on.’ I said, ‘Turn the water on and get in the shower.’ The referee comes and says, ‘One second,’ and I said, ‘My guys are in the shower. We’re not coming out.’ And we never came out, and the referee said, game over.

“That was the last thing I remember about being at St. John’s. That was 1987, guys. 1987. So I don’t remember too much about it, to tell you the truth, to be perfectly transparent. You don’t buy houses without looking at the garage and the upstairs and the kitchen and everything. You don’t just buy a house.”