"4-500 people in the stands and 15 fights a game": Despite long term rivalry, Rick Pitino once showed respect to UConn legend Jim Calhoun

St. John's coach Rick Pitino has come roaring back into prominence with the Red Storm after disappearing from public consciousness after a stormy end to his Louisville Cardinals tenure. He started his comeback with a spell as coach of the Iona Gaels before taking the St. John's job in 2023.

During a segment of the Big East Shoot Around after the Red Storm beat the Seton Hall Pirates in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals in 2024, the charismatic Pitino revealed his admiration for former UConn Huskies coach Jim Calhoun.

The pair coached against each other in the Big East when Rick Pitino was the coach of the Boston University Terriers (1978-1983) and the Providence Friars (1985-1987), while Jim Calhoun coached the Northeastern Huskies (1972-1986).

"This gentleman over here, and I go back from Boston University-Northeastern with 4-500 people in the stands and 15 fights a game, and I told him, I told Talik Brown, who won a championship with coach," Pitino said (0:26). "I said we didn't always get along, but there's nobody in basketball.

"No one I respect more than this man, because his coaching ability and what he did, look we all know what he did at Connecticut. You should see what he did at Northeastern. So, for him to be here is very special to me, because we were running around 45-50 years ago. And it's great to see you, Jim."

---

Rick Pitino pinpointed Jim Calhoun as "biggest rival"

The Rick Pitino versus Jim Calhoun battles didn't end in the Big East, as the pair continued to do battle when Calhoun took the UConn Huskies job, where he won three national championships.

During a news conference at this year's March Madness, Pitino revealed that despite coaching against some of the greats of the game, Calhoun was his biggest rival.

“There’s only one coach I really considered a rival my whole career,” Rick Pitino said.

“Only one coach I had a strong rivalry with, and today, I respect him as much as anybody in the game. And that was Jim Calhoun. We hated each other, BU and Northeastern. Hated each other. And there were 300 people at each arena.

View on TikTok

"He goes on to coach at Connecticut, I go on to coach at Providence and we hated each other there, as well. Today, I don’t think I respect any coach in the game as much as I respect Jim Calhoun,” he added.

During their famous battles over the years, Rick Pitino emerged as the clear victor with a 7-5 record against Jim Calhoun, who retired in 2021.