$70M CONTRACT: Rick Pitino Makes Shocking Statement After Reed Sheppard Announces Return to Kentucky...👇👇 One of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament's most surprising national title candidates will be guided by a coach whose comeback to prominence may have seemed unthinkable when it first started on Thursday. Rick Pitino, 72, has a chance to lead the collegiate game once more courtesy to No. 2 seed St. John's (30-4) after controversies terminated his time at one of the nation's most successful schools and forced him to find employment halfway around the world eight Pitino, who had already made history as the first to win a national championship at two schools and make it to a Final Four with three, is the sixth college to make it to the tournament. Five decades into his career, when many of his coaching peers had long since retired, Pitino did the exact opposite: he wanted to return to the college game, but he was willing to take a roundabout route to do so. Pitino has thrived despite returning to a college system that has seen drastic changes, such as allowing players to profit from their name, image, and likeness, as well as allowing them to transfer between schools without incurring penalties through the transfer portal. Pitino stated on Monday on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show, "I truly do not believe in the word'redemption' because those who judge you actually do not know the circumstances." "They truly do not know if they are guilty or innocent. They are unaware of it.