As Rick Pitino and his St. John's Red Storm prepare to take on Duke, the top team in the country, he has some thoughts on the state of "blue bloods" in college basketball.
Specifically, Pitino asserted this week that he doesn't believe college hoops has blue bloods anymore. He believes that the sport is better for it.
“There are no longer blue bloods in college basketball, and I think that’s great," Pitino said, per Jeff Goodman.
Rick Pitino: “There are no longer blue bloods in college basketball, and I think that’s great.”
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 26, 2026
It's hard to tell exactly what Pitino means here, but there certainly are fewer of the "traditional" college basketball powerhouses in the Final Four each year. It seems that there are two or three relative newcomers to basketball greatness in the Final Four each year.
But Duke fans weren't exactly amused by Pitino's comments, especially since it was a clear shot at their own program.
"I mean this is the same guy who said there’s no longer point guards either 🤦🏼 Sure, Dukes not a blue blood," one user on X mocked.
"Somebody should have laughed in his face when he said this," wrote another.
"He says as he prepares to face … top-ranked Duke," a third wrote.
"You can’t get much more Blue Blood than Duke. They still present."
Duke vs. St. John's
The Blue Devils have been the No. 1 team in the country since late-February and have tasted defeat only once in 2026. Other than an early scare against Siena to open the NCAA Tournament, Duke has looked nigh unstoppable for the better part of six weeks.
St. John's are enjoying their best season of the 21st century, claiming the Big East title and reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. For years the program was without the dominance that it had once enjoyed under the late-great Lou Carnesecca, but Pitino has injected new life into the New York City basketball program.
That said, expectations are that this game won't exactly go down to the wire. Duke are favored by 6.5 points per Yahoo Sports.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Mar 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.