Calipari Bests Pitino in March Madness Battle of Great Italian American Coaches

The month of March is synonymous with NCAA basketball for fanatics of the sport, but it is not every day that the annual tournament features a matchup with two Hall of Fame coaches going head-to-head. Yet, the Round of 32 saw just that as the Arkansas Razorbacks took on the St. John’s Red Storm, with Italian American head coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino attempting to lead their schools to Sweet Sixteen berths. The highly anticipated matchup has many fans comparing the former NABC Coach of the Year recipients, but according to Pitino, the only similarity the two share aside from their love of the game is their Italian heritage.

Rick Pitino and the Red Storm entered the contest as the favorite. Coming off a Big East Tournament Championship, St. John’s was in the midst of their best season in nearly a quarter-century. Although expectations were high for Pitino, that didn’t deter Calipari, who had something to prove in his first year at the helm of the University of Arkansas’ basketball team. After fifteen years of excellence with the University of Kentucky, including four Final Four appearances and a national championship, Calipari continued his March Madness success on Saturday with the Razorbacks, securing a decisive 75-66 victory.

The game’s main storyline was the poor efficiency from RJ Luis Jr. Despite leading the Red Storm in scoring this season with over 18 points per game, the third-year guard only scored 9 points yesterday on 3-17 shooting. He also failed to connect from behind the arch, falling short on all three of his three-point attempts. While fellow junior Zuby Ejiofor picked up the slack with 23 points and 12 rebounds, it wasn’t enough to outlast strong performances from Hog’s starters Karter Knox and Johnell Davis, posting 15 and 13 points, respectively.

As a result, Calipari will advance to his first Sweet Sixteen since 2019. This may not be the result Pitino was hoping for, but the overwhelmingly positive impact he has had on an otherwise struggling program is undeniable. After a decade of 0 NCAA tournament games played, Pitino took St. John’s to the illustrious March Madness stage in just two seasons, improving their record from 18-15 in 2023 under Mike Anderson to 31-5 in 2025.