The first round of the NCAA Tournament is almost in the books, and teams have been making March Madness history all over the country. One of the coolest stories of them all may be what Rick Pitino and his son, Richard, have done at their respective programs.
The elder Pitino, “The Godfather” as some call him, got off to a slow start with St. John’s on Thursday night, but the Red Storm came out of the halftime break on fire and ran away with an 83-53 win over No. 15 seed Omaha.
On Friday, Richard Pitino and his New Mexico Lobos put together a very impressive showing, pulling away from No. 7 seed Marquette in the final five minutes to get a 75-66 win. With the two wins, the Pitinos became the first father-son head coach duo to both win in the first round of the same NCAA Tournament, according to Chris Vannini of The Athletic.
Unfortunately, New Mexico and St. John’s are put in different pods of the bracket, so the two will not be able to coach against each other until the Final Four if they both get there.
The Johnnies have a strong chance of making it to San Antonio out of the West Region after sweeping the regular season and conference tournament titles in the Big East, but it would take one heck of a run from New Mexico for the younger Pitino to reach the final weekend.
In the next round, Rick Pitino and St. John’s will take part in a different blockbuster coaching duel against John Calipari and No. 10 seed Arkansas. St. John’s will come into that one as the favorite, but the Razorbacks have been playing their best basketball of the season lately and should be a tough out.
On the top half of that bracket in the South Region, Richard Pitino and the Lobos will have their hands full in a likely matchup against No. 2 seed Michigan State, led by Tom Izzo. The No. 2-seeded Spartans won the Big Ten regular season title, so they will like their chances against anybody. No. 15 seed Bryant will also have a chance to pull a shocking upset of Michigan State late on Friday night.
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