Rick Pitino vs. Dan Hurley head-to-head record: Comparing St. John's, UConn coaches
(This story was updated with new information to reflect St. John's win over UConn on Sunday. It previously was published before Sunday's game on Feb. 23, 2025)
Rick Pitino and Dan Hurley are two of the most fiery and emotional coaches on the sidelines in men's college basketball.
The St. John's and UConn basketball coaches renewed their rivalry Sunday when the 10th-ranked Red Storm defeated the Huskies 89-75 in a matinee game in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
Sunday's game was significant for both St. John's and UConn heading into it, as next month's Big East Tournament at The Garden is just a few games away. With Sunday's win, Pitino's squad moved one step closer to clinching the program's first regular season title since 1992; while Hurley's squad is inching closer to being a bubble team. St. John's can clinch a share of the regular season title with a Creighton loss on Sunday to Georgetown.
So how do these two coaches stack up against each other after Sunday's contest?
Here's what you need to know:
Rick Pitino vs. Dan Hurley
Head-to-head record
- Rick Pitino regular-season record vs. Dan Hurley: 2-2
- Rick Pitino postseason record vs. Dan Hurley: 0-2
- Rick Pitino overall record vs. Dan Hurley: 2-4
With Sunday's 89-75 win over UConn, Pitino improved his head-to-head record vs. Hurley to 2-4, which includes wins in each of their last two recent meetings for the Hall of Fame coach.
The first head-to-head meeting between Pitino and Hurley came in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, when Pitino was coaching at Iona. Behind Adama Sanogo's game-leading 28 points, the Huskies pushed past the Gaels 87-63 to advance in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Then came three consecutive losses for Pitino to Hurley after the 72-year-old coach took over the reins at St. John's, giving him four losses to Hurley in less than a year — including one in the semifinals of last year's Big East Tournament at The Garden.
Pitino's first win against Hurley came two weeks ago when both teams met at Gampel Pavilion. RJ Luis Jr. hit a baseline jumper off an inbound pass from Kadary Richmond to give the Red Storm a top-20 road win. Luis scored six of his 21 points in the final 2:16.
Here's a game-by-game breakdown of Pitino and Hurley's meetings as head coaches:
Seed in parentheses
- Friday, March 17, 2023: (4) UConn 87, (13) Iona 63 (NCAA Tournament — First Round)
- Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023: No. 5 UConn 69, St. John's 65
- Saturday, Feb. 6, 2024: No. 1 UConn 77, St. John's 64
- Friday, March 15, 2024: (1) UConn 95, (5) St. John's 90 (Big East Tournament)
- Friday, Feb. 7, 2025: No. 12 St. John's 68, No. 19 UConn 62
- Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025: No. 10 St. John's 89, UConn 75
Rick Pitino resume, overall wins
- Rick Pitino overall record: Official: 755-307; Unofficial: 878-310
Pitino holds an unofficial record of 878-310 in his 36 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level — which includes stints at Hawaii, Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John's — following Sunday's win over UConn.
Pitino has built a resume like few others in men's college basketball: he's led five different programs to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, has led three different programs to the Final Four and has had a winning season in all but three years.
His seven Final Four appearances have been matched by only five other coaches all-time, per his St. John's profile page. When he led Louisville to the Final Four in 2005, he became the first coach to take three different schools to the Final Four.
He's also the only coach to win a national championship with two different programs, doing so first with Kentucky in 1996 and then with Louisville in 2013. Pitino's national championship at Louisville, of course, was stripped by the NCAA following the conclusion of a 2017 FBI investigation into the Cardinals' program and others. Along with the stripped title came the official deduction of over 100 wins.
Pitino is doing some of the finest work of his career at St. John's this season. He's rejuvenated the Red Storm program. At 23-4 overall, Pitno has already led St. John's to its most wins in a single season since 1999-2000 and top 10 ranking in the Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll.
Here's a program-by-program breakdown of how Pitino's college teams have fared:
- Hawaii (1975-76): 2-4
- Boston University (1878-1983): 91-51
- Providence (1985-87): 42-23
- Kentucky (1989-1997): 219-50
- Louisville (2001-2017): 416-143 (unofficial)
- Iona (2020-23): 64-22
- St.John's (2023-present): 44-17
- Overall: 878-310 (unofficial)
Dan Hurley resume, overall wins
- Dan Hurley overall record: 310-172
Hurley holds an overall record of 310-172 in his 15 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level — which includes stints at Wagner, Rhode Island and UConn — following Sunday's loss to St. John's
Since UConn rejoined the Big East in 2020 from the American Athletic Conference, Hurley has transformed into one of the top coaches in the sport, posting a 124-33 overall record with four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big East Tournament title and back-to-back national championships.
When the Huskies defeated Purdue in the national championship game last April, Hurley became just the third coach in the last 40 years to win back-to-back national titles.
Here's a program-by-program breakdown of how Hurley's teams have fared:
- Wagner (2011-12): 38-23
- Rhode Island (2012-18): 113-82
- UConn (2018-present): 159-69