Rick Pitino sees ‘superstar’ in St. John’s prez as Iona has NCAA Tournament date with UConn

Rick Pitino loves his 13-seed Iona team that goes Dancing on Friday in the West Region against Dan Hurley and the 4-seed UConn Huskies, loves the culture he has built with the MAAC champions at the school that gave him another chance … at a golden time in his life when a Gael force Red Storm howls louder with each Maddening March day.

“I know the president [Rev. Brian Shanley] very well, he’s a superstar,” Pitino told The Post by phone. “I know him from Providence College, we’re both Friars at heart. The whole campus at Providence, he built all the facilities.

“But I haven’t been on St. John’s campus in probably 20 years. I know very little about St. John’s other than Looie Carnesecca. We’re gonna just get through this tournament.

“If I have interest and they have interest, I need to get to that campus and see it.

“Iona’s a place I’m very comfortable at, very happy at, so I’m not sure what my future holds.”

Pitino of course will not let the elephant in the Iona room, not right now.

“When I was at Kentucky there were rumors of me going to six NBA jobs,” Pitino said. “The players don’t pay attention to it at all. We don’t even address it. The internet doesn’t pick coaches, so we don’t even address it.”

Not right now, when Hurley will be looking to carry Jim Calhoun’s old UConn torch back to glory.

Iona Gaels guard Daniss Jenkins (5) shares a laugh with Iona Gaels head coach Rick Pitino when the Iona Gaels watched the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.Robert Sabo for NY Post

“Nobody on the team is thinking about, we’re worried about winning games,” conference Player of the Year guard Walter Clayton Jr. said.

They believe their coach gives them an advantage against anyone.

“We’re just worried about March Madness,” backcourtmate Daniss Jenkins said.

If Pitino has somehow forgotten the way to Utopia Parkway, Red Storm boosters and fans and alums would line up to hire a limo to take him there.

They will be heartened to hear that Pitino, Our Champion Native New Yawk Son, still showing up with his PHD (Passionate, Hungry and Driven), fondly remembers the legends of St. John’s past.

Ask him about Chris Mullin and he’ll tell you:

“They just had it really going back then. They kept the New York talent at home. Times have changed so much because back then St. John’s could have their players live off campus and they got a stipend. So Chris Mullin, to get him to stay home and attract that type of talent, was an enormous thing for St. John’s.

“Those games in the Garden in the Big East were just incredible, and St. John’s had it rolling back then.

“But it’s been a long time.”

Much too long. Not one March Madness win since 2000.

Ask him about Looie Carnesecca and he tells a classic story about the conference schools divvying up shoe money among them at the Big East meetings in Puerto Rico after he had left Hubie Brown’s side with the Knicks to coach at Providence College.

Iona Gaels head coach Rick Pitino talks with the media after the Iona Gaels watched the NCAA Tournament Selection Show Robert Sabo for NY Post

“John Thompson was running the coaches meetings,” Pitino recalled. “Money was small back then. Every coach would get $2,500 — MacGregor basketball. John Thompson got $10,000 for Voit. So P.J. [Carlesimo] and [Jim] Boeheim grabbed me, and Rollie [Massimino] just won the [1985] championship at Villanova. And they said, ‘Look, Rollie’s gonna bring it up that three schools — St. John’s, Villanova and Syracuse — are gonna get $12,500 next year. The rest of you are gonna get $5,000 and you need to say, ‘We should all get the same.’

“I said, ‘Why am I saying it guys? I’m new to the league, I’m young. Why don’t you guys handle it?’

“‘No, no, no — Rollie really respects you because you’re coming from the pros.’”

“So the only reason I bought into this stupid trick was that Jim, who loves money, had to take a pay cut from $12,500 to $5,000. And he wouldn’t want to do that, so I thought it was legitimate.

“So we’re at the meeting and Rollie said, ‘Look, I talked to MacGregor, they didn’t want to pay any of you guys, I talked ’em into giving you 5 and the three schools are gonna get 12,5.’ And, I raised my hand, and said, ‘Look Rollie, fabulous job this year, congratulations, what a wonderful coaching job. But I think we should all get the same.’

“All of a sudden, he goes crazy — ‘Who the f— do you think you are asking that type of question?’ [laugh] He blows me out of the water. I wind up almost getting into a fight at the table, and Boeheim and P.J. are laughing, hysterical.

“So the meeting was tabled, and canceled, until the fall where the coaches would meet in the fall. And then Looie was present and Boeheim and P.J. said, ‘Why don’t you mention again about the ball deal? I said, ‘F— you guys, I’m not mentioning anything.’

“And it came up again, about three schools are gonna get 12,5. And Looie said, ‘Fellas, look: There’s an expression: Leave the chandeliers. We’re all in this together. If I invite you over my house, eight people, my wife is not gonna cut three big pieces, and the other five, you get small pieces of dessert.’ He says, ‘Leave the chandeliers, guys, we all get the same,’ and that was the end of the discussion.

Iona celebrated winning the MAAC championship.AP

“There’s certain people in life that are just bigger than life because of their character, and that’s Looie Carnesecca. He just had great character and it wasn’t about money with him, it was just the true love of the game, and that’s why I always respected him so much.”

Moral of the story: “We all got $7,500 instead,” Pitino said.

Pitino chuckled at the memory of standing at Big John Thompson’s navel before Providence versus Georgetown.

“The Big East was unbelievable back then,” Pitino said. “It’s making a resurgence back again because the addition of Connecticut was just a great hit for the league. But back then the Big East, every big game was a flat-out war, the Syracuse-St. John’s games, the St. John’s-Georgetown games, the Syracuse-Georgetown … they were just awesome games.”

A table holding two MAAC Championship trophies topple over as Iona Gaels head coach Rick Pitino prepares to talk with the media on Sunday.Robert Sabo for NY Post

That was then. Iona University-UConn is now.

“It’s almost the same as every program, if you recruit quality players, quality people you’re gonna have a quality culture,” Pitino said. “If I’ve done one thing well in my life, I recruited really good people who understand what’s necessary to get the job done. This team exemplifies that.”

So will his next team. No matter who or where it may be.

Meet Iona

Location: New Rochelle, N.Y.

Enrollment: 3,032 undergraduates (3,621 total)

Coach: Rick Pitino (3rd season)

Last NCAA appearance: 2021

NCAA tournament history: 15 appearances, 1-15

How they got here: A year after Iona was upset in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed, it cruised to the conference crown. It won its three games at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City by a combined 53 points, beating Marist in the final, 76-55. Iona isn’t your typical MAAC champion. It has a NET ranking of 59, boosted by the 60th-ranked non-conference schedule in the country and a 17-3 league mark as the MAAC regular-season champion.

Walter Clayton Jr.USA TODAY Sports

Starters

G Walter Clayton Jr (16.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.2 apg)

G Berrick JeanLouis (7.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.0 apg)

G Daniss Jenkins (15.6 ppg, 4.9 apg, 4.4 rpg)

F Nelly Junior Joseph (15.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.5 bpg)

F Osborn Shema (7.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.6 apg)

Key Reserves

G Anton Brookshire (4.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.4 apg)

F Sadiku Ibine Ayo (2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.4 spg)

G Michael Jefferson (2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.0 apg)

Player to watch: Clayton took a massive leap this season, more than doubling his scoring output, increasing his assist total and significantly raising his shooting percentages. A former high school football standout who had high-major offers on the gridiron, the 6-foot-2 sophomore was the MAAC Player of the Year.