Rick Pitino will get a shot at playing Duke in the Sweet 16, and the St. John’s coach seems to already be looking forward to it.
Pitino opened up about being on the wrong side of buzzer beaters after his Red Storm essentially walked off Kansas on Sunday. Most famously, he was Kentucky coach in 1992 when Christian Laettner made his famous shot for Duke in that year’s Elite Eight.
Pitino wasted little time bringing up that shot following Sunday’s win.
“You win some, you lose some, and I’m hoping we can get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian Laettner shot,” Pitino said.
“You win some, you lose some. I’m hoping we get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian Laettner shot.” 😂
— Karter Baughan (@karterb8) March 23, 2026
Rick Pitino on being on the wrong sides of buzzer beaters in the past. Also mentions the show Paradise 😂 pic.twitter.com/uG5049gZog
The Laettner shot has gone down in college basketball lore as one of the NCAA Tournament’s most memorable moments. Pitino went on to win a national title at Kentucky four years after it, but the Duke game clearly still bothers him to some degree.
Pitino might just have the players to do it this time based on how they went about knocking out Kansas on Sunday.
