Rick Pitino's No. 2-seed St. John's will lock horns with John Calipari's No. 10-seed Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Ahead of the blockbuster clash, Pitino was asked about similarities between himself and Calipari.
When discussing comparisons and the history between the two Hall of Fame coaches, Pitino said that he isn't very close with Calipari, but has a lot of respect for his counterpart.
"I certainly have great respect for him, but we're not really close. Everybody tried to talk that way," Pitino said on Friday. "We don't know each others' wives, we don't know each others' children. So, we're not really close friends."
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Pitino also joked that he shares a common heritage with Calipari, and that's about it.
"I don't know a whole lot about him except he's a terrific basketball coach. At a very young age, I knew him really well ... but years have gone by, and I don't think we have been to dinner one time in our lifetime. We're both Italian. We both love the game. I think that's pretty much where the similarities end."
Here are the key details for the upcoming March Madness game between St. John's and Arkansas:
- Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
- Time: 2:40 p.m. EDT
- TV channel: CBS
- Live stream: Fubo or Paramount+
- Venue: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island
A look at Rick Pitino's H2H record against John Calipari
Rick Pitino might have an edge over most coaches that he has come up against, but in this case, Calipari holds the advantage over him with a 16-12 overall head-to-head record.
The HOF coaches have faced each other 22 times at the collegiate level where Calipari leads the way 13-9. They have a 3-3 record in the NBA.
It will be interesting to see if Pitino can close the gap on Calipari on Saturday. His St. John's team is considered the favorite to make the Sweet 16.
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