Rick Pitino wants St. John’s but should they want him?

Legendary coach Rick Pitino has thrown his hat into the ring for the vacant post at St. John’s, but his recent history makes him a questionable fit for the Red Storm.

After Chris Mullin stepped down as St. John’s head coach, the rumor mill started flying about potential replacements. Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley and Iona’s Tim Cluess appear to be two of the top names on the Red Storm’s short list, but a veritable coaching legend has thrown his hat into the ring.

Rick Pitino, who is coaching professionally in Greece now after being let go by Louisville a year ago, texted Adam Zagoria about his interest in the vacancy on Tuesday. In the message, Pitino said:

"“I would bring St. John’s to the Elite level not seen since Louie (Carnesecca) roamed the sidelines.”"

In terms of pure coaching ability, there is no doubt that Pitino would be a massive upgrade over Mullin for the Red Storm. Pitino has taken his teams to seven Final Fours and a pair of national championships in his Hall of Fame career, but the last two Final Four appearances and title (all with Louisville) were vacated due to the scandals he got caught up in at the end of his tenure.

Those scandals included a pay-for-play allegation involving forward Brian Bowen that got him fired, but the records were vacated due to an operation that involved hiring escorts to meet with recruits between 2010 and 2014. Pitino was utterly defiant about the pay for play allegations, telling Zagoria that any job offer from St. John’s would also require an apology from the Southern District court in New York for “ruining an innocent man’s reputation for putting his name into a complaint.”

That court was the one that linked Pitino to the pay-for-play violations, an act he has maintained never happened at Louisville. Even if Pitino is telling the truth and he had nothing to do with all the scandals that plagued the end of his run with the Cardinals, St. John’s should stay far, far away from him.

Pitino is 66 years old, so even if he takes the job there is no guarantee that he will be around for more than four or five years anyway. The odds of Pitino immediately elevating St. John’s to an elite level are slim, so this situation feels like it is begging for another reboot in four years.

Given all the headaches Pitino could cause, St. John’s is better off resisting the temptation for the big shiny object and instead of going for either the up-and-coming Hurley or a proven winner in Cluess. The Red Storm should care more about winning basketball games instead of winning the back pages, and those hires carry far less risk and arguably a ton more reward than Pitino does.