Pitino is the first St. John’s coach in the school’s history to earn the prestigious honor and the fifth from the Big East Conference. Pearl is only the second in Auburn’s history, the first since Cliff Ellis in 1999, and the first SEC coach since John Calipari in 2015 to be named such.
But do both bench bosses deserve to share the illustrious title? Were Auburn and St. John’s 2024-25 seasons equally as remarkable?
While Pearl and Auburn dominated a stacked SEC, earning the regular season title and now racking up a school-record 32 wins, the Tigers were an already established powerhouse. Pearl took the team to the 2019 Final Four and competed in six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments.
Pitino arrived at St. John’s and after just two seasons, returned the once Big East stalwart to its former glory with regular season and tournament titles for the first time since 1992 and 2000, respectively. That’s the signature Pitino turnaround, something he’s done with now six different programs.
“When you go from last season trying to give away tickets… to having every seat sold out… [it’s] a great thrill for St. John’s,” Pitino told insider Andy Katz on Monday about earning the award.
There’s no discounting what Pearl accomplished at Auburn this season and there’s an argument to be made that Pitino’s name inflates his resume slightly, especially considering Pearl has the Tigers in the Final Four and the Red Storm fizzled out in the second round.
But the kind of turnaround Pitino orchestrated can be likened to that seen on the college football side of things in 2024 with Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Indiana’s Curt Cignetti.
Now, the latter earned that award and received some harsh backlash (no conference title, lost in the first round of the CFP), but the point still stands that the honor was considered for leadership surrounding a program that was revitalized.
Pitino meets that criteria but Pearl also sustained a dominant, winning culture in the most competitive conference in the sport this season. Only one thing is for sure, the AP voters had a tough choice to make but fate determined it simply shouldn’t.
