Rick Pitino is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA Division I and in the NBA, including Boston University (1978–1983), Providence College (1985–1987), the New York Knicks (1987–1989), the University of Kentucky (1989–1997), the Boston Celtics (1997–2001), the University of Louisville (2001–2017), Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague (2018–2020), and Iona University (2020–2023).

Pitino led Kentucky to an NCAA championship in 1996. He was the first coach in NCAA history to take three different teams to the NCAA Final Four, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. A 2006 inductee to the New York City Hall of Fame, Pitino has the second-highest winning percentage in NCAA Tournament games among active coaches, winning 75 percent of his games in the post-season event with a 50-17 record in 19 tournament appearances.
Pitino is known for getting his players to believe in themselves, instilling the desire to succeed and driving his players to overachieve. His former players speak of their coach's caring nature beyond their basketball skills. As evident, by twenty-nine of his former assistants or players have become collegiate head coaches.

Aside from his hoops prowess, Pitino has achieved success off the court as well in such realms as broadcasting, publishing, motivational speaking and horse racing. He is an accomplished author, producing such books as the best sellers "Success Is A Choice" and "Lead to Succeed," as well as his latest offering "The One-Day Contract."