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Bruce Pearl, Rick Pitino Make History With AP Coach of the Year Vote

It is the first win for both coaches, who led Auburn and St. John's to top-two seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Dan Lyons

St. John's Red Storm coach Rick Pitino during the men's NCAA tournament against Arkansas.
St. John's Red Storm coach Rick Pitino during the men's NCAA tournament against Arkansas. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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Auburn's Bruce Pearl and St. John's coach Rick Pitino are two of the most recognizable faces of college basketball. The pair made hoops history on Friday, becoming the first two coaches to split the Associated Press Coach of the Year award, which dates back to 1967.

It is the first win for both Pearl and Pitino, despite their accomplished careers. Each received 20 votes for the award, per the AP, with the remaining votes going to Louisville's Pat Kelsey (eight), Duke's Jon Scheyer (five), Missouri's Dennis Gates (three), Michigan State's Tom Izzo (three), Drake’s Ben McCollum (one) and UC San Diego’s Eric Olen (one).

Pitino is the first St. John's coach to win the award, while Pearl joins Cliff Ellis, who won it with Auburn in 1999.

Pitino has engineered an impressive two-year turnaround with the Red Storm, elevating them from 18–15 in 2022–23 to 20–13 last season, his first with the Big East program. St. John's went 31–5 in 2024–25, winning the Big East regular season and tournament and earning a No. 2-seed in the NCAA tournament, though a second-round upset loss to No. 10 Arkansas put a damper on the Red Storm's accomplishments.

Pearl, meanwhile, continues to go strong with the Tigers, the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Dance. The Tigers face fellow SEC power Florida in Saturday's Final Four, with the winner earning a chance to play for the national championship against either Duke or Houston.

At 32–5, this is already the winningest season of Pearl's career. The Tigers have reached the second Final Four of his tenure after making their first trip in 2019.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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