"He's bad luck" "Family over everything": Fans roast Rick Pitino as St. John's HC pulls up for son's March Madness game

College basketball fans reacted to St. John's coach Rick Pitino watching courtside in the New Mexico-Michigan State 2025 NCAA Tournament second-round clash on Sunday at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Pitino, who was a day removed from Red Storm's loss to Arkansas in the second round, was spotted with fans of the Lobos supporting his son, Richard, in his game against New Mexico. He cheered along with Lobos supporters when a good play was executed or a shot was made.

Fans roasted the 72-year-old former champion coach on social media, with one user saying he could bring bad luck to the game.

"....and they lost," a fan commented.

"Breaking News: A man with millions of dollars boarded a plane & flew to a different city," another college basketball enthusiast wrote.

"Maybe he's scouting for some future transfer portal players," an X user added.

Others reacted positively over Rick Pitino's effort to support his son in his most important game as a coach.

"Dad will be dad," one fan wrote.

"That’s what a good Dad does…," another user added.

"That’s great. It had to be hard to lose his game but he’s there supporting his son," a college hoops enthusiast chimed in.

Pitino's effort to travel to Cleveland 24 hours after losing a do-or-die game shows how much the Hall of Fame coach values being there for his kids. However, that didn't help his son win the game, as Richard Pitino also saw his season end in 71-63 loss to Michigan State.

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Richard Pitino and New Mexico fall to Michigan State in March Madness second round

Richard Pitino and the No. 10-seed New Mexico Lobos (27-8) couldn't sustain a 10-point first-half lead, succumbing to No. 2-seed Michigan State (29-6) in the second round of the 2025 March Madness in the Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

The Lobos had a good start, building a 24-14 lead over the stunned Spartans in the first 11 minutes of the game. The Spartans used a 9-2 fightback to cut the deficit to 31-29 at the half.

Michigan State took control of the game, scoring six straight points to take a 35-31 edge. Donovan Dent tied the game at 51 with 7:39 remaining, but the Spartans raced to a 9-1 spurt to take an eight-point lead, 60-52, with 5:09 left.

New Mexico reduced the deficit to five but Coen Carr and Jase Richardson's five straight free throws gave Michigan State a 68-58 edge at the 1:32 mark. Richardson would score on a three-point play after Jovan Millicevic's triple to seal the win for the Spartans, who are set to meet No. 6-seed Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 on Friday.

Jaden Akins led Michigan State's offense with 16 points and Tre Holloman and Frankie Fidler added 14 and 10 respectively for Michigan State, who handed coach Tom Izzo his 16th Sweet 16 appearance in his career.

Nelly Junior Joseph led New Mexico with 16 points while Mustapha Amzil and Dent added 14 each for the Lobos.