“Just a tough a-s team, toughness you can’t believe.” Rick Pitino boasted after the win against Marquette, reflecting the Red Storm’s impressive pace this season. It wasn’t long before that had yielded rewards, and RJ Luis Jr. was cutting down the nets at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s had won the Big East Championship for the first time since 2000. Rev. Brian J. Shanley’s leap of faith in the Hall of Famer, who wasn’t even on his list of candidates, had paid off. And so had another Red Storm’s, prompting massive support yet again.
When Pitino was coaching at Iona in 2023, Shanley was looking for a new coach to revive his University’s basketball program. It was Mike Tranghese who brought forth the name to the St. John’s president and put in efforts to convince him to consider. But for a solid backing to affirm both Pitino and the Shanley? St. John’s alumnus Mike Repole was at play. He made clear that he would return as a benefactor of the basketball program if the school locked in Pitino.
He stood by his words. And with the way the 2024-25 season is proceeding, he continues to stand by them.
Earlier today, Front Office Sports reported that the $1.6 billion entrepreneur promised that St John’s basketball team, going forward, would have abundant NIL money to work with. The decision was announced even before the team won the finals against Creighton. After all, even making it to the last stage for the first time since 2000 was an achievement in itself. “I let [administrators] know that, listen, you guys would have my cooperation to do whatever it takes to help the university get back in the national spotlight,” Repole told Front Office Sports.
With multiple other donors’ contributions through collectives, the Red Storm built the fourth-ranked transfer class in the nation this past summer. Therefore, the sooner it could be assured that the program would once again be covered on the NIL front, the better. And you can trust Repole with that.
Billionaire St. John’s alum Mike Repole, who helped recruit Pitino in 2023, promised the team would have plenty of NIL money to work with moving forward.
Full story » https://t.co/02uxGeol5A pic.twitter.com/PPXDq4uHhp
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 15, 2025
St. John’s means a great deal for the entrepreneur. He was the first person in his family to ever graduate from college. Though it reportedly took him 5 years, Repole eventually completed his course in Sports Administration. According to Forbes, during his teen days in the mid-1980s, the Vitaminwater founder took the subway from his two-bedroom home in Queens, N.Y., to Manhattan, just to attend St. John’s men’s basketball games. Due to his financial situation back then, the future businessman could only get upper-deck seats at the MSG. Now, having amassed a huge wealth through his association with brands like BodyArmor, SuperDrink, Glacéau, NoBull, and more, Repole flaunts courtside seats.
But he has done more than that over the years.
The New York Times reported in March that the billionaire “now compensates its players like powerhouse programs”. Rick Pitino himself claimed that between $3.5M and $4M had been spent to compensate the college players this year. In return, his companies’ products are advertised during the games and per NY Times reporter Corey Kilgannon, he’s a “striking examples of how money is reshaping college basketball.”
Simply having an emotional connect with his alma mater is not enough to make a business dealing/contribution in the millions. Mike Repole would not have chosen to do what he did if he didn’t believe in the team. Fortunately, the billionaire has faith in the head coach.
Mike Repole recently named Rick Pitino as amongst the greatest basketball coaches ever
After Mike Anderson was fired in 2023, Shanley was curating a list for the next coach to take over. Pitino was coaching only 20 minutes away at Iona, but thanks to his controversy at Louisville, he remained off the university president’s radar. Pitino was exonerated by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, after all, following allegations of fraud and corruption. But with still an impressive resume and his energy to effect every program he’s made a stop at, his potential wasn’t lost on Repole.
“He’s the type of coach that the University has deserved since the day Louie Carnesecca retired,” he had said in 2023, with a few other boosters onboard. Now, the billionaire just can’t get enough of Pitino.
“Rick Pitino is the greatest basketball coach in history,” said Mike Repole on a recent episode of VICE Sports’ ‘Pitino: Red Storm Rising.’ “You’re watching Picasso paint. You’re watching Michelangelo sculpt. You’re watching greatness.”
St. John’s basketball is an event again.
This is the Rick Pitino Effect, writes @ralphdrussoATH.
“We’re watching a living legend on the sideline,” billionaire alumni Mike Repole says.https://t.co/A2EKiedtuR pic.twitter.com/t5F5tH16Aa
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 4, 2025
Repole placed his faith on Pitino to deliver, and he did. Now, with the additional contribution, it remains to be seen what the duo will next do to assist the now 4-time Conference Tournament Champions.
The post Rick Pitino Gets Billionaire’s Backing as St. John’s End Decades-Long Big East Drought appeared first on EssentiallySports.