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Kevin Willard has known Rick Pitino since Willard was a young boy.
Pitino was close friends with Kevin’s father, Ralph, and has maintained a lifelong connection with the family, including hiring Kevin as an assistant both with the Boston Celtics and at Louisville.
But Willard, 50, said the experience was “miserable” and was responsible for him going bald,
“I’m not bullsh---ing you, I don’t have hair because of him,” Willard cracked of the 73-year-old Pitino after No. 15 St. John’s hammered Villanova, 89-57, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. “I had a full set of hair when I started working for him. It’s the most miserable experience in life. You fear for your life every day. You think you’re going to get fired, and it’s miserable.
“And as he’s gotten older, he’s probably become more of a cranky old (expletive) than he was when I worked for him. But you literally fear for your life.”
Still, Willard, the former Seton Hall and Maryland coach, and Pitino had a friendly extended chat on court before St. John’s rebounded from its 32-point loss to UConn by beating up on the Wildcats.
Pitino improved to 47-14 against his former assistants, including a 7-0 mark against Billy Donovan and an 8-1 record against Willard.
Pitino has 908 career on-court wins and has taken six schools to the NCAA Tournament and three to the Final Four. He led Kentucky and Louisville to national championships, although the Louisville title was vacated by the NCAA.
“He’s got the most energy of any coach I’ve been around,” Willard said. “I think that’s why he’s got 900 wins and national championships because he does it better and more intense than anybody.”
Willard added that Pitino has “the perfect player” in center Zuby Ejiofor, who had a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, along with 3 blocks.
“Zuby and him match so well together, and I think that’s why they’ve been so successful,” Willard said.
Ejiofor, the favorite for Big East Player of the Year, and the Red Storm (23-6, 16-2 Big East) remain a half-game back of UConn and are chasing their second straight Big East regular-season title under Pitino.
“I get along great with every player that works hard,” Pitino said. “I don’t get along with players that don’t work hard. I feel when you put that St. John’s uniform on or you put that Louisville uniform on, Kentucky or Providence, you’re coming to get better. You’re coming to bring it every single day because the coaching staff is going to bring it every single day, and that’s Zuby. It’s a great match [with me] because he brings it every single day. That’s what the great ones do.”
Added Ejiofor, who will be honored Tuesday during Senior Night against Georgetown: “It’s a great relationship. He gets on me as much as he would get on a guy like [Lefteris Liotopolous] or [Fotis Konstantinidis] or anybody else on the team. And that’s how [we] got to be able to just create a special bond. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to experience a regular season title and a tournament title under him as well, so that’s something we’re chasing again.”
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