Sports
St. John’s Is Back, Rick Pitino’s Big Mouth Is Louder, and the Big East Title Is Theirs
Feb 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino signals in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images When No. 7 St. John’s beat Butler on Wednesday night, the Red Storm clinched at least a share of the Big East title for the first time since 1992.
Cue Rick Pitino: “We are not interested in sharing anything.”
St. John’s is getting the full Pitino experience: an unmistakable personality, some eye-catching quotes for better or worse, and a whole lot of winning.
Maybe we all should have seen this coming. You can make the argument that no modern coach does a better job of instilling his ethos into a new program and getting near-immediate results.
All of his teams, from Providence to Kentucky to Louisville and even Iona, made a dramatic jump between Year 1 and Year 2, as documented here by college basketball mensch Trilly Donovan. At St. John’s, Pitino’s first season ended with a 20-13 record and an NCAA Tournament snub—not the worst place to start.
Now the Red Storm are 25-4 and a realistic candidate for the Final Four.
Think back to Feb. 18, 2024, when St. John’s blew a 19-point lead at home to lose to Seton Hall. Pitino laid into his players postgame.
“We are so nonathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” Pitino said, before naming five of his players and calling them “slow laterally” or “physically weak.”
It felt brutal at the time. You do that behind closed doors, not at the microphone, some declared (I may have been among them). But the wiser among us could recognize a motivational tactic when they saw one.
Since that day, St. John’s has gone a ridiculous 31-5. Talk about a turning point.
Granted, this year’s group is far different than last year’s. Such is life in the transfer portal era. But Pitino has proven well-equipped for that. At Big East media day, he didn’t hesitate to speak about the money being on the table now instead of under it.
However you feel about his past or his persona, this is a man who knows how to attract talent. And then he squeezes out their full potential.
This season, he pieced together an all-transfer backcourt of Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith and Aaron Scott while building up Zuby Ejiofor into a real threat on the block (from 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last year to 14.0 ppg and 8.1 rpg now). Then there’s captain RJ Luis Jr. on the wing, the leading scorer who does a little of everything well.
VICE cameras shooting a documentary series captured Pitino giving his players a fiery halftime speech earlier this season when they were losing to Providence. Free from digs about physical weakness and lateral slowness, it was a message about learning how to handle adversity instead of wilting in the face of it. St. John’s held Providence to 28 points in the second half of that game and won 72-70 on Ejiofor’s last-second shot.
His players were fired up, but Pitino’s son Richard, the coach at New Mexico, had a different reaction. “PTSD of the time I didn’t make my bed,” he wrote on X.
Like father, like son. They’ll keep the quips coming, and the wins to back them up.
Sports
Azzi Fudd lone rookie to compete in WNBA 3-point contest
Jul 20, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd (35) warms up before the game against the New York Liberty at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images Rookie Azzi Fudd is accustomed to being in the national limelight after winning an NCAA championship with UConn in 2025 and being drafted No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings last April.
On Friday night in Chicago, Fudd will be back in the spotlight as one of six WNBA players participating in the 3-Point Contest during All-Star weekend festivities.
Also competing is Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard, who, like Fudd, was a rookie the first time she took part in 2022. Rounding out the field are Marina Mabrey of the Toronto Tempo, Bridget Carleton of the Portland Fire, Natisha Hiedeman of the Seattle Storm, and Janelle Salaun of the Golden State Valkyries.
Only Mabrey and Howard have competed in the past.
Defending champion Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty declined to take part.
The 3-point contest is a two-round event, with all six players getting their turn in the first round. The championship round will be the top two finishers only.
The contest is set to start at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, and it will be televised by ESPN. The All-Star Game will be played Saturday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A's place top pitcher J.T. Ginn (blister) on 15-day IL
Jul 18, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics starting pitcher J.T. Ginn (35) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The Athletics placed right-hander J.T. Ginn on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to a blister on his right middle finger.
The move is retroactive to Saturday for Ginn, who leads the team’s starters in wins (eight), ERA (3.46) and strikeouts (100) while making 22 appearances (19 starts) this season.
Ginn, 27, allowed just one hit and struck out seven batters over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a 15-1 romp over the Washington Nationals in his last trip to the mound.
He is 13-14 with a 4.20 ERA in 53 career games (41 starts) with the Athletics.
Also on Wednesday, the A’s recalled right-hander Mason Barnett from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Barnett, 25, is 1-0 with two saves and a 4.64 ERA in 13 relief appearances with the Athletics this season. He is 3-1 with a 4.34 ERA in 10 games (all starts) with the Aviators.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jasper Philipsen wins Stage 17 of Tour de France
Premier Tech’s Jasper Philipsen reacts after winning stage 17 of the Tour de France. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Jasper Philipsen won his first Tour de France stage of 2026 and the 11th of his career on Wednesday to extend a win streak by Belgian riders.
Philipsen’s victory in Stage 17 from Chambery to Voiron followed countryman Remco Evenepoel’s back-to-back triumphs in Stages 15 and 16, the longest streak for Belgium since 1981.
Philipsen, 28, completed the flat 174.7-kilometer trek just ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid and the Netherlands’ Olav Kooij.
Four-time champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia maintained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. His lead over Evenepoel is 4 minutes and 32 seconds, with Mexico’s Isaac del Toro in third place.
Stage 18 on Thursday is a mountainous 185.2-kilometer journey from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette. The 113th edition of the Tour de France concludes on Sunday in Paris.
–Field Level Media
Azzi Fudd lone rookie to compete in WNBA 3-point contest
A's place top pitcher J.T. Ginn (blister) on 15-day IL
