Auburn's Pearl and St. John's' Pitino share AP coach of the year honors, 1st tie in history of award

Bruce Pearl has turned Auburn into a basketball school and may have his best team yet. Rick Pitino has done what he does best at St. John's, ushering in a quick turnaround.

Their successes this season led to the first tie in the 58-year history of The Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the year award.

Pearl and Pitino each received 20 votes in balloting released Friday from the national media panel that picks the AP Top 25 during the season. Louisville's Pat Kelsey received eight votes and Duke's Jon Scheyer got five. Dennis Gates (Missouri) and Tom Izzo (Michigan State) each received three, and Drake's Ben McCollum and UC San Diego's Eric Olen each got one vote.

Pitino is the first St. John's coach to be named AP coach of the year and the sixth in Big East Conference history. Marquette's Shaka Smart won the award two years ago.

When Pitino was hired in 2023, the Red Storm had been mired in mediocrity. St. John's hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and the March Madness trips had been sporadic since the late 1990s.

Pitino led the Red Storm to 20 wins his first season and back into national prominence this year. St. John's won the Big East regular-season title by going 18-2 and took its first Big East Conference Tournament title since 2000.

The Red Storm matched a school record with 31 wins — marks set in the 1980s under Lou Carnesecca — and had their highest ranking in the AP Top 25 in in 34 years by reaching No. 5 in the final regular-season poll. St. John's was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and opened with a win over Omaha before losing to Arkansas in the second round.

Pitino's quick success follows a pattern he set in previous stops at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville