Rick Pitino Slams NCAA Policy After St. John's Loss to Duke
On Friday, March 27, Rick Pitino and St. John's Red Storm lost to the Duke Blue Devils in an emotional game, with an 80-75 final score. Pitino is known for speaking his mind, and as the head coach of St. John's University, he's doing the same.
Pitino has taken three separate schools to the Final Four, but he's not getting there this year with St. John's. Following the game, Pitino expressed frustrations over some NCAA policies about the winning and losing teams in these high-stakes matchups.
Rick Pitino Voices His Thoughts on NCAA Policy
Speaking with reporters, Pitino said that he thinks it's wrong that the losing team is supposed to hold its postgame press conference after the winning team does so.
"One suggestion for the NCAA is when you have interviews on the court for Duke, for the winning team, and they have time there — the game started before we even came in here — is to have the losing team go first," Pitino told reporters. "Because you left us disappointed in the locker room while the other team is celebrating, rightfully so."
He added, "You should let the losing team go first and then let the winning team have as long as you want. Just a suggestion. Because you just left us hanging out there for over a half hour."
It makes sense that the losing team would want to get their presser done and over with and then leave. So, this reporter sides with Pitino on that idea.
The No. 1 seed Duke came back from a 10-point deficit in the second half of the game to take down the No. 5 seed St. John's out of the NCAA tournament. Now, Duke will face UConn in the Elite Eight on Sunday, March 29. Before this game, St. John's took down Kansas in a buzzer-beater, as Alternative Fix reports.
"It was our defense that broke down," Pitino also stated during the press conference. "It wasn’t so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country. We couldn’t defend the bully drives."