Billionaire St. John's Alum Doing Whatever it Takes for Basketball Program
Mike Repole, a billionaire St. John's alum, pledged to do whatever he needed to do to help the basketball program get back to what it used to be.
Hiring Rick Pitino was the first step in the Johnnies returning to national relevancy. The program had reached new lows and Pitino's job was to fix that.
St. John's, 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the Big East, is viewed as a bubble team with March Madness just weeks away. Their recent play hasn't helped their chances, losing to Marquette, Providence, and Seton Hall in three of their last four games.
Pitino didn't hold back after they lost to Seton Hall on Sunday, calling it the most unenjoyable experience of his life. He then retracted those comments after their win against Georgetown, putting the blame on himself for this disappointing season.
With NIL money being a necessity, St. John's needs to get that under control. Zach Braziller of the New York Post reported what Repole had to say about helping them conquer their NIL troubles.
“I’m going to commit whatever it takes,” Repole told The Post in a phone interview Wednesday night. “I don’t think there’s going to be any alumni from any other Big East school that’s going to give to their alma mater more than I can. If there is, I would like to meet him. I just want to make sure everybody knows that.”
If he's willing to spend as much as it sounds he is, St. John's basketball will be right back on the map. Pitino, regarded as one of the best basketball coaches in college basketball history, will have players outside of his front door waiting to play for him if the money is right.
Pitino and Repole want to win, leaving for a potentially great relationship.
A once proud, national powerhouse program, hasn't been able to turn it around. Perhaps Repole can be the start of them doing that.
