In the spring of 2023, two major Big East brands that had become irrelevant nationally made new coaching hires. 

Georgetown landed Ed Cooley and St. John’s hired Rick Pitino. Considering Pitino’s age, and how well Cooley had done rebuilding Providence, there was some thought Georgetown might have made the better move. 

Less than three years later, St. John’s has come out the far bigger winner. The Hoyas haven’t come close to the NCAA Tournament under Cooley, and are again one of the league’s most disappointing teams.

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The Johnnies, meanwhile, are riding a six-game winning streak, celebrated Pitino winning his 900th game on Saturday and are beginning to look like the group everyone was so high on in the preseason.