West Region will feature 3 Hall of Fame coaches, another with consecutive national titles
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino gestures during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Creighton in the championship of the Big East Conference tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Frank Franklin II]
Rick Pitino’s latest rebuilding project will take him to Providence, where he pulled off one of the biggest surprises in NCAA Tournament history by leading the Friars to the 1987 Final Four. His road to another potential Final Four with St. John’s will be littered with some of the biggest coaching names in the game, including one who followed him during a successful run at Kentucky. Pitino will be joined by Kansas’ Bill Self and Arkansas’ John Calipari, putting three Hall of Fame coaches together in Rhode Island at the bottom of the West Region bracket. Add in UConn’s Dan Hurley, who has led the Huskies to consecutive national championships, and that’s quite a coaching roster in the West.
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Arkansas head coach John Calipari speaks during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi at the Southeastern Conference tournament, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Wade Payne