Footage Of Rick Pitino Ripping Into His St. John’s Team At Halftime Goes Viral & Basketball Fans Love It: “Teaching These Young Men About Life”

Rick Pitino will go down as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time.

Why? Frankly, “Ricky P” (as I like to call him) can’t stop willing teams to the NCAA tournament. No matter where he is coaching, Pitino led teams are always finding a way into the postseason… or they get hot at just the right moment and go on an impressive run. He’s taken three different teams to the Final Four, he’s led two different teams to nation titles, and he’s about to become the only coach in college basketball history to lead six different teams to the NCAA tournament.

Pitino’s illustrious career (with a couple of scandal bumps along the way) had humble beginnings at Boston University and Providence. Early on in his career, he turned those relatively unknown teams into NCAA tournament Cinderellas. He then got his first high-level opportunity at the University of Kentucky, where he won a national championship in 1996. Pitino then moved on to coach Kentucky’s rival Louisville from 2001 to 2017. He won a title there too, though the NCAA doesn’t recognize it anymore.

Because of all the off-court issues that led to the NCAA vacating Louisville’s championship, Pitino then became somewhat of a journeyman in the coaching world. The longtime college coach went overseas to take over a Greek professional team, and after a couple of years (and a championship), he returned to America to coach at the small university of Iona – and unsurprisingly made even them tough to beat.

Now, he finds himself in his second season with St. John’s, and a successful season at that. In his first year, he turned the Red Storm into somewhat of a powerhouse in the Big East. In Pitino’s second year with St. John’s, they aren’t just a standout team in the Big East… they’re a top-10 team in the country.

Many are left wondering how Pitino – no matter where he ends up – can create such competitive, championship-level teams. Well, basketball fans are finally getting a peak behind the curtain in the VICE documentary Pitino: Red Storm Rising. The docuseries is giving a behind the scenes look at Rick Pitino’s approach to coaching, and a clip of from one of the latest installments has gone viral online.

St. John’s was down to Providence at halftime, and Pitino absolutely ripped into his team during the locker room break. He called out his players, held them accountable, and told them that the game of life is a whole lot tougher than basketball. In a modern era of coaches trying to be buddy-buddy with their players, ol’ “Ricky P” is evidently still doing things the old fashioned way:

“Dig in and be a basketball player. Dig in. Every time you miss a shot, your game deflates. We don’t care about your missed shots. Play f**king defense. You guys keep blowing opportunity upon opportunity upon opportunity. You’re like children with bad things happening. Instead of digging in and being tougher, you wilt.”

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’ll let you listen to the rest of the Rick Pitino masterclass below:

Clip from Vice Sports of Rick Pitino at halftime of the St. John's game at Providence. #sjubb was down big, and rallied to win. pic.twitter.com/5gAbXa0BVS

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) February 17, 2025

That’s a wake up call if I’ve ever seen one.

And guess what? It worked! St John’s rallied and came back to beat Providence 68 to 66 following that impassioned speech from Rick Pitino. Was his halftime message probably hard to hear in the moment? It sure looked like it was. But did it result in his players digging deep and finding a way to win? You bet it did.

Social media users and college basketball fans were mesmerized by Pitino’s angry-yet-pointed speech to his team, and loved that he was still going the tough love route with his coaching in 2025:

I Iove this. It’s more than just a game. It’s teaching these young men about life.

— Justin “Couz” Walker (@couz206) February 17, 2025

I’m ready to lace up and get out there

— Charlie Sweeney (@CharlieSweeney) February 17, 2025

Awesome. When most coaches today just want to be your buddy and coddle. Rick coaches hard and digs into their hearts and soul

— College Ball King (@collegeballking) February 17, 2025

Tough love from a legend.

— Chip Eichelberger, CSP (@chipe) February 17, 2025

Pitino could make me rob 4 liquors stores

— Big East ButtPlug (@bigeastbuttplug) February 17, 2025

Wow, those kids are going to benefit immensely long after he’s gone.

— George Steward Siracuse (@glightfinancial) February 18, 2025