Rick Pitino claims college basketball has no blue bloods anymore: 'I think it's great'

Ahead of Friday night’s Sweet Sixteen showdown against No. 1 overall seed Duke, Rick Pitino boldly declared the death of college basketball blue bloods. This is coming from St. John’s 73-year-old head coach with a noted history coaching for and against some of the biggest blue bloods in the game.

“The blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer,” Pitino during Thursday morning’s press conference. “There’s no difference between Kentucky, North Carolina than Illinois or St. John’s. There’s no difference anymore. … It’s all going to be the same … So, there’s no such thing as a blue blood anymore.

“I think the fact that there are no more blue bloods, I think it’s great,” Pitino continued. “Now Kentucky will always be Kentucky, and Duke will always be Duke because of their great legacy in the game and the history (of their programs). … But they’re no longer the blue bloods in basketball, and I think that’s wonderful.”

Pitino’s declaration regarding the end of college basketball blue bloods comes while one such example — Duke — is currently the top overall seed in the ongoing 2026 NCAA Tournament and enters this weekend’s Sweet 16 as one of the betting favorites to win the national championship. At the same time, another blue blood — North Carolina — just became the sport’s most-coveted available job following Tuesday night’s firing of Hubert Davis after five years leading the program.

In fact, of the seven teams routinely considered the blue bloods of men’s college basketball — Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, and UConn — all but the Hoosiers made this year’s 68-team NCAA Tournament field. The Blue Devils and Huskies are still alive in the Sweet 16.

Pitino, himself, has coached at Kentucky, going 219-50 over eight seasons (1989-97) in Lexington, during which he reached five Elite Eights, three Final Fours and won the 1996 NCAA National Championship.

After more than five decades in coaching, Pitino is one of college basketball’s most well-traveled active head coaches with notable stops at Boston University (1978-83), Providence (1985-87), Kentucky (1989-97), Louisville (2001-17), Iona (2020-23) and now St. John’s since 2023.

Given that extensive history in the sport, the 73-year-old is clearly comfortable where he is, especially in the midst of his first Sweet 16 run since taking Louisville to four straight between 2012-15. Beginning in 2012, Pitino led the Cardinals to back-to-back Final Fours, which included winning the 2013 national championship, as well as the Elite Eight in 2015.

Of course, those four seasons have since been stripped from the record books after the NCAA charged Pitino with failure to monitor related to an alleged sex-for-play scandal that ultimately led to his 2017 firing. Louisville was forced to vacate 123 victories between 2011-15, including the 2013 national championship, marking the first time the NCAA vacated a national title in men’s college basketball.

Pitino and his fifth-seeded Red Storm will play top-seeded Duke at 7:10 pm ET Friday on CBS in their East regional Sweet Sixteen game from Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.