March Madness: Storm's Rick Pitino, LIU's Rod Strickland reunited at West Regional
LIU head coach Rod Strickland, left, and St. John's head coach Rick Pitino.
SAN DIEGO — Rick Pitino and Rod Strickland are together again.
Pitino became Strickland’s first NBA coach when the Bronx native and DePaul All-American was chosen by the Knicks in the first round of the 1988 draft. Pitino’s St. John’s team and Strickland’s LIU squad open NCAA Tournament play here Friday.
Asked about their relationship Thursday, Strickland answered, “Pitino’s a tough cookie. That’s my guy, though . . . We have a lot of history [and] I’m a big-time fan.”
DePaul honored Strickland by retiring his jersey this season at halftime of the Blue Demons’ game against the Red Storm. He asked the school to do it at that game, he said, “because of me and Pitino’s history and St. John’s being from New York.”
“Coach called me a couple of days before the game and said, ‘Do you want to travel with us? We’ll fly you there and back,’ ” Strickland said. “Right there, that says it all about Rick Pitino, that he would reach out and give me that gesture at that moment in time.”
Pitted against West Regional top seed Arizona (32-2), LIU (24-10) is seeking to become the third No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 in tournament history. Asked about being a prohibitive underdog, sophomore forward Shadrak Lasu replied, “You’ve got to go in with the mindset that you’re going to win. All our guys have prepared all the way up to this moment for this game and we’ve all got the mindset that we’re going to come in and win . . . If you come in doubting yourself, you’re going to already put yourself back.”
Because Strickland was a star at Truman High in the Bronx and then a well-liked Knicks player, he particularly enjoys LIU’s success in New York. The fourth-year coach won only three games his first season.
“It’s special because it’s home,” Strickland said. “I’ve had a chance to have my 90-year-old mother come to every game. I’ve got New York City street [ball] legends walking in for every game.”
Strickland said he loved playing for Pitino on the Knicks, mentioned him popularizing the three-point shot in the 1980s and said, “He’s the Don Dada [the ultimate boss] of coaching in basketball. As a coach and as a person. I’m a Pitino fan.”
Three keys for LIU vs. Arizona
LIU returns to NCAA action as the No. 16 seed in the West Regional with a 1:35 p.m. ET matchup Friday against No. 1 Arizona (32-2) at Viejas Arena. The Sharks will be seeking to become just the third No. 16 to take out a top seed in tourney history. Here are three keys for the Sharks:
1. Defend the arc and the rim. LIU excelled on the outside by limiting foes to 32% on three-point attempts and near the rim with 5.4 blocked shots per game, ranked ninth in the country. It hasn’t dealt with a team that has Arizona’s size, but it’s been their recipe for winning and as coach Rod Strickland said, “you don’t change who you are now.”
2. Win the turnover battle. The Sharks are a prohibitive underdog and can’t afford to make the 13.0 turnovers they average. They do get a lot of steals though and Arizona’s ball security only is mediocre.
3. Stay confident and believe. No one put it better than sophomore forward Shadrak Lasu when he said, “You've got to go in with the mindset that you're going to win. All our guys have prepared all the way up to this moment for this game and we all got the mindset that we're going to come in and win. I just think if you come in doubting yourself, you're going to already put yourself back.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
