BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ
There a lot of factors that go into winning games in college basketball. But in 2026 perhaps none of those factors are larger than a team’s NIL budget.
St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino credits the budget differential as the difference between his program and the team his son, Richard Pitino, coaches at Xavier.
“Real proud of the team, but actually I think I’m more proud of my son,” Rick Pitino told SNY after St. John’s narrowly escaped an Xavier upset in overtime on Monday. “I think he’s a brilliant coach, brilliant. Great offensive mind, he had no budget, they recruit 13 players at the last second and he’s taken one of the top team’s in the country to the wire twice.”
The 87-82 win over Xavier was St. John’s 10th straight victory in BIG EAST play. They sit at the top of the conference heading into the home stretch of the season and have a real chance to win the conference title over the favorite UConn.
Xavier, despite being 4-9 in conference play and 8th in the BIG EAST has shown competitiveness throughout.
In their last six games, four of those games have been decided by a margin of 5 points or fewer.
But it takes a heavy investment to win at the highest level in this sport. Time will tell if it’s an investment that Xavier is willing to make.
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