St. John’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s office robbed of memorabilia, cops say
Legendary basketball coach Rick Pitino’s office at St. John’s University was broken into by a pair of thieves who ransacked it for memorabilia, cops and sources said.
Two as-yet-unidentified men ran off with $375 worth of goods, including a basketball and bullhorn, during the Tuesday burglary in Carnesecca Arena, where Pitino’s office is located a floor above the basketball court, sources said.
The memorabilia included a signed basketball and a ceremonial dagger.
The sneaky crooks entered the building about 6 p.m., raided Pitino’s office and sped off from the Queens campus on a moped headed west on Union Turnpike with the stolen memorabilia.
“The University shared surveillance footage with the NYPD and is assisting in the ongoing investigation,” a statement from St. John’s athletics department reads.
Footage from the heist shared with The Post showed two men walking through the arena’s hallways. One man can be seen talking on a phone as he holds a small bullhorn – an item sources said was stolen from Pitino’s office.
Other items stolen from Pitino’s office were a sword, mask and bottles of alcohol, sources said.
It wasn’t clear whether the theft was limited to his office.
Pitino himself is listed as making the complaint to the NYPD, sources said.
He didn’t return The Post’s request for comment, but tongue-in-cheekily tweeted Thursday that he was most bothered with the crooks taking a bottle of fine wine that goes for $1,500 or more.
“Really upset!” he wrote. “Taking my memorabilia is one thing but the 1985 6L Petrus Pomerol has me livid!!!”
He later clarified the wine was a joke.
“I would never keep that on my desk!” he tweeted. “Saving that one in a wine cellar to open after the Johnnies go to the final four!”
The coach joined St. John’s in 2023 with hopes he could repeat the basketball magic that has defined his decades-long career. He led the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville to NCAA championships, brought Providence College to the Final Four and helped bring a 1980s turnaround for the New York Knicks.
Additional reporting by Zach Braziller
