'Going through that experience propelled me for life': The early years of Rick Pitino

More than 40 years after he last suited up for Rick Pitino in the early 1980s, at which point the eventual Hall of Famer was partway through a reinvigoration of the Boston University men's basketball program, Mark Fiedor can always tell when his former coach is generating new headlines at St. John's, the latest school to reap the rewards of the sport's most indelible architect. Fiedor's phone will buzz with messages from his extended family, from his son, from people he goes to church with, from the group chat with his old Terriers teammates, from anyone with whom he's shared stories of what Fiedor now calls one of the most formative experiences of his life.

They're all transfixed by what Pitino, 72, is doing in his second season with the Red Storm, the way he's enlivened another dormant program through an inimitable blend of savvy, steel and shrapnel that everybody who's ever shared a court with the two-time national champion and seven-time Final Four participant knows all too well. A video clip of Pitino admonishing his team during a halftime speech at Providence earlier this season electrified social media for days — "On a scale of one to 10, this was like a three," Fiedor told FOX Sports. "He's cleaned up his language a lot." — and the reception he now receives during home games at Madison Square Garden, where the team is fresh off a Big East Tournament title, is borderline papal. In elevating St. John's to the school's first outright Big East title since 1985 and an overall record of 30-4, good enough for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, he's catapulted both himself and the Red Storm into the mainstream media landscape, evidenced by an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" during the final week of the regular season. No program across the country is hotter than St. John's. 

But what is it really like to live in Pitino's world, to spend hour after hour, day after day, at the mercy of a coach whose passion for basketball borders on maniacal? How is that so many of his former pupils remain loyal to him for decades — forever, even — knowing full well the kind of physical and mental strain he subjected them to as teenagers and young adults? Even players who haven't maintained friendships with Pitino still speak about him with the utmost respect. 

"I think Coach Pitino is hardworking, he's intelligent, he's visionary, he's loyal," Fiedor told FOX Sports. "I haven't asked for anything from him. But I know some of the guys that have played for him that are my teammates, you know, he cares about them, he's in communication with them because they're in communication with him. So he's a loyal guy. And I think that that's one of the things now with AAU and with the way college sports are, loyalty is sort of the forgotten quality. And if you're loyal, I would tell the guys that are there right now, ‘Stay loyal, even if it's tough. Stay loyal to the program and to what he's doing and to him. And if you do, it's a payoff for a lifetime.'"

To better understand that dynamic, FOX Sports spoke with 15 of Pitino's former players, ranging from his time as an assistant coach under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse (1976-78) through his current role at St. John's (2023-present), along with the handful of collegiate stops he made in between: at Boston University from 1978-83, at Providence College from 1985-87, at Kentucky from 1989-97, at Louisville from 2001-17 and at Iona from 2020-23. 

This is the first in a three-part series titled Postcards of Pitino. We begin with The Early Years, a segment of Pitino's career that culminated in a Final Four appearance during his second season leading the Friars. 

Editor's note: The following accounts were edited for length, clarity and flow. 

From: Marty Headd, SG, Syracuse (1977-81)
Career stats: 10.9 points and 1.7 assists per game in 106 appearances
Years with Pitino: 1 

I signed with Syracuse the first day of classes my senior year, so I was exposed to Pitino for two years total, but I played for him for one. He basically told me he'd never recruit me, that Jim Boeheim made a mistake, that I never should have been recruited. But since I was, he'd work with me. When I was a senior in high school, Pitino wanted to play one on one with me at Manley Field House. We were gonna do it for a week before SU's practice and before my high school's practice. So I went down there and we played one on one, and I basically crushed him. He cut it short to like Wednesday, but he found out what he needed to find out about me.

He announced in front of other players — I'm still in high school — that he was gonna go find somebody to play with me, meaning someone with speed. And he went with small forward Louis Orr down to an All-Star game in New York City. And to make a long story short, he came back with my partner, Eddie Moss. We didn't like each other at first, but Pitino found my partner, who was a defensive specialist, and that really made a world of difference for me. I went on to become a three-year starter, averaged double figures each year, scored 1,200 or so points, drafted by the New York Knicks, played overseas. But without Eddie, I don't get off and get going on that path.

Pitino, he really helped me. But he didn't like my game whatsoever. And that shows an open-mindedness to the guy. He told me, ‘I never would have recruited you.' But he really liked how much I improved and how much I worked at my game. I don't think I could have asked for a better career, and Pitino was right there with me and helped guide me.

Rick used to like to stand up during games, and you could tell right then that he was meant to be a head coach. And he wanted to get in and get going in terms of the game. And there were too many cooks in the kitchen — and I think Pitino knew it and Boeheim knew it. Boeheim actually put up with him standing up and talking to the refs because he realized this young guy Pitino, he can't help himself. And within a couple of years, Pitino had moved on. It just wasn't gonna work because Boeheim is a dictator. And there's just no room for two of those guys because Pitino was kind of just doing the same type of thing.

I gotta say, there were some guys that were pretty happy when Pitino left. And it wasn't because he wasn't a good coach. It was just, ‘You're too much. You're meant to be a head coach.' Assistants are a little different. They're not in on every god damn thing you're doing. They make suggestions and move on. So Pit really got, in a way, too big for his britches real quick because he wanted to be a head coach. He had enough ability to be a head coach, but it was limiting him with Boeheim because it's like having two Popes. You can't have two Popes.

But I think we were playing up at Boston College when we were seniors. Eddie shouted at me, he goes, ‘Come here!' And I go over quick — it's a foul shot, so somebody is shooting a free throw — and he goes, ‘Over there!' and it was Pitino watching from the stands. He had come to the game to see me and Eddie and everybody else. He kind of waved to me and Eddie and he was just so proud of us that we had made it, that we had got the most out of our ability and that we were seniors, we punched through. He went out of his way to come see that game.

Even though I went into this interview saying I kind of don't like Pitino and he's a little bit kooky and this and that, he's a really, really good judge of talent. And in order to turn your game around, he has incredible suggestions. He's a good man. But he's so confident and sharp with his criticisms and stuff that he can alienate you a little bit. It's something like you open a bubbly can of soda or something and you taste it and you don't like it. I never liked Pitino — the taste of it — or just him. But I gotta respect it.

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From: Danny Schayes, C, Syracuse (1977-81)
Career stats: 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 117 appearances
Years with Pitino: 1

Rick was a force of nature back then. Rick was a ball of fire, ball of energy, took no prisoners. There was no escaping his wrath. He was not the get-to-know-you, supportive, loving guy. He was the Tasmanian devil in that era. And I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way because he was a motivator, high energy — but there was no compromise. He was just borderline nuts to be around.

He's still young, right, 23 or 24 at that time, so he was playing with us during open gym. Literally Marty Headd would run back on defense and say, ‘You got him, I got Pitino.' And then Pitino would shout, ‘STOP THE GAME! It's Coach Pitino!' And it's like, dude, we're playing a pickup game. You're not Coach Pitino out here. You're the point guard.

In practice, he was famous for discipline. This was obviously pre-anything that would resemble analytics, but he'd keep track of deflections, he'd keep track of box outs, he'd keep track of pressure on shots. If you did none of those things, you got a minute on ‘The Bricks,' which was a defensive drill, basically defensive slides for a minute. There was no getting out of them. 

Rick told me flat-out to my face that I was not good enough to play at Syracuse, and that I shouldn't go there and that I would never play. Turned out, I had the longest NBA career of any player ever at Syracuse — although Carmelo Anthony just broke that record. He later said that he got it, that I was good enough. I don't know if that was maybe a schtick he had to try to motivate you.

I wouldn't say that we didn't get along because actually there was a time in practice when he was coaching the scrubs or whatever you want to call them, the non-starters, and I was kicking starting center Roosevelt Bouie's ass. And Pitino was getting mad at me because I wasn't kicking his ass worse. So we had it out in the middle of practice. I was like, ‘Well, f---, I'm not going to play in front of Rosie, I'm kicking his ass already, what do you want?' He says, ‘I want you to f---ing humiliate him. Let's go!' And I was like, ‘That's a far cry from saying I'm not good enough to play here.'

You could get the passion, you could get the court sense and knowledge. That was never an issue. He was a driver, sometimes to the point where — he was really hard on small forward Chris Jerebko. Because Chris had knee surgery and had a scope, and then Rick wanted him to come back. But Chris was totally not ready. They would wear him out. They had him seven, eight minutes a day doing defensive slides on a bad knee because there was no thought of, ‘Let's get him ready.' It was like boot camp. Aren't you tough enough?

So it was a very double-edged sword. On the one hand, I'll say great things about Pitino. On the other hand, I realize that it was not tempered with, like, good sense. There was only one speed, whether that was the right speed for you or not. I've got huge respect for him. There's nothing not to respect. But there is that double-edged sword aspect to it.

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From: Mark Fiedor, C, Boston University (1981-85)
Career stats: 0.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 82 appearances
Years with Pitino: 2

Next to my spiritual decisions and who I married, it's probably the biggest decision I ever made in my life to come to Boston University. I realized that I needed someone to push me in order to even come close to being a decent basketball player. My parents wanted me to go to Rutgers, and I was kind of heading that direction until I came up to Boston and spent a few days with the team and watched them work out. The mantra was, ‘The hardest working coach and the hardest working team in the country.' That sort of scared certain people away, you know, and it was a bit scary for me, personally. But I felt like this was the place I'd have the best opportunity to play and to grow — because of him.

It was harder than anything I've ever had to do in my life. Just constantly being on your toes, constantly thinking in terms of where do I need to be, how early do I need to be there, how incensed do I need to be while I'm there in order to fulfill the vision of Coach Pitino, you know? I think he had a very clear idea of the kind of effort he wanted to see from all of the players individually and the team collectively. So it was just a lot of work and a lot of hours upon hours of training. Dealing with the physical aspect, sure, but really dealing also with the mental and emotional aspect of it because he was very challenging. Some people would look at it as harsh, and I understand that, but I always felt like he wanted me to be better. And so, even though it would be very easy to take it personally — as in, he's completely ticked off at me and doesn't want me around — I never felt that way. I felt like he was trying to make me a better player. When he stopped yelling at you or when he stopped pushing you, that was really more when you had to worry.

I remember my freshman year, it was triple sessions the day before Thanksgiving, double sessions on Thanksgiving Day, and then for Christmas, we did double sessions on Christmas Eve and then double sessions on Christmas Day. The only day we got off my freshman year was New Year's Day. I remember this because we practiced literally every day.

He was funny during film sessions. I remember one particular situation where a player was making a full effort to run up the floor and they looked like they were really getting into it, but their legs weren't really moving, you know? So it looked like they were running in quicksand, but their face looked like they were Carl Lewis setting the world record in the 100-meter dash. And Coach Pitino just kept playing it forward and back, forward and back. And no one wanted to laugh because we were worried about how he would respond to that. But it was hilarious. He would use sarcasm and different things to try and get to the point and motivate. I've heard former NFL head coach Bill Parcells talking to players, and I'm like, ‘You know what, that reminds me of Coach Pitino, too,' so there's a little Parcells in him there, a little Bobby Knight, you know?

I was a partier my freshman year. And then, between freshman and sophomore year, I got very serious about my spiritual life and I became a Christian, OK? So all the partying ended. And that created some tension with the players and somewhat with the coaches because of worrying about my priorities. Even though we talk about academics, it was really the team came first. So I told Coach Pitino that I felt like I'm going to be a better player just because I'm not out partying six nights a week anymore, I've got more energy. He was like, ‘Well, we'll see.' 

He decided to have us go down to New York City and have a practice in Long Island and then go see a Knicks game and spend the night. Coach had gone down there on his own in his Mercedes. He called me Saturday night after we practiced and watched the game and said, ‘I know it's important to you to be at church tomorrow. I'm leaving early. Do you want to ride back to Boston with me so you can make church?' And I said, ‘Yeah, sure.' So I got a phone call very early in the morning, like 5 o'clock, and I went outside the hotel and he was there leaning on the Mercedes. And as I was walking over to it, he threw me the keys and said, ‘Here, why don't you drive.'

I don't know how many guys he would have handed the keys to. It was kind of a nod to me. I realized I could have played better, you know? You look back and realize I figured everything out after I left college. But at the time, for me, that was an important acknowledgment that he respected the decision I made to become a Christian, and he trusted me enough to drive that car.

I became a high school teacher and I coached for 20 years, but the last nine years were pretty tough because my wife, you know, she came down with Alzheimer's when she was 52. And then I was working and had to care for her as she got worse and worse and worse. Unfortunately, she passed away in August after nine years. I was just doing everything I could. Being able to do that and still teach a good class and give myself to the kids, and then go home and give myself to my wife, it's like, ‘OK, this is really hard, but I know I have the confidence that I can do it because I was able to make it with Coach Pitino.' And that's why I say choosing BU was a very important decision because you had to be strong. You had to be strong mentally and you had to be strong physically. 

But man, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

*** *** ***  

From: Johnnie Ray Wall, G, Boston University (1978-82)
Career stats: 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 98 appearances 
Years with Pitino: 4

I was heavily recruited by a number of large schools. Kind of narrowed it down to Syracuse and Tulane University. And so Coach Pitino was recruiting me for Syracuse. And he says, ‘You know, John, I have the opportunity to take the head-coaching job at Boston University.' Well at the time, I didn't even know what Boston University was. I knew it was a Division I school. But he said, ‘We're going to build a team around you, we'll get similar types of players.' And because I had the confidence in him, I ended up going to BU when it wasn't even in the picture originally.

I remember when he was recruiting me for Syracuse, I was having a conversation with one of the players up there named Dale Shackleford. And Dale said, ‘Rick is a good guy, but he'll have you doing everything except for playing basketball.' And it resonates like it was yesterday. That's the kind of relationship that we had during my four years under Rick. We did a lot of things. And some things were questionable whether or not it was basketball. It was a tough road to hoe. 

He was a very intense guy, likes to yell and scream at you, you know? That kind of shook me a little bit. And not only that, he was one of these guys that believed in conditioning. His philosophy was, most athletes at the collegiate level are pretty close in talent, so the team that is in the best physical condition will end up winning the game at the end of the day. He was a taskmaster when it came to conditioning, all right? That was a shocker. He would drill us, drill us, drill us, drill us. And that became very tough. We would practice three times a day, sometimes, you know?

I remember one time — this was during the Thanksgiving vacation — and I guess he was mad at us about something because he made us practice for like six straight hours. I was so exhausted. I mean, we ran until we fell out. And then we had a Thanksgiving dinner at one of the hotels afterwards, and we were so tired we couldn't eat the food. He got mad at us. He's like, ‘I spent all this money for this food and you guys can't eat it!' We just couldn't go any further, you know. That's how tired we were. But conditioning was his thing. I mean, he would run us until you couldn't run anymore. We would hope that he would at least one day get sick, catch a cold, stay home with his wife. The guy is just a fanatic when it came to that. 

One thing I would always give Pitino credit for, I think he's a master at the X's and O's part, you know? We did pretty well during my time. We could never beat the major schools, but when it comes to the X's and O's, I don't think too many coaches can out-fox him in that regard. He has a high IQ that he's shown throughout his career. If the game is close, I'm gonna bet on Pitino. He figures it out. I admire him for that. He knows how to position you, which players to play and when to play them.

Pitino was big in the press. That's his trademark. Back in my era, he would throw a team of guys to go in and press, you would press for so long and he would take you out and put another group of guys in there. The pressing was tough. It takes a lot out of you, and you've got to be in great shape. The problem with the press is it really wears on your joints. His style of play, I don't think it benefitted me and my style of play. I did it because I was committed to going to college and graduating in four years. So I kind of grinned and I bared it. But as a person, I mean, I think he's a great person. We're friends today. 

Getting through that experience, it taught me that no matter what, don't give up. Life is never going to be fair. You're going to have to make your own breaks. And the key thing is to have stick-to-itiveness. It was that experience that allowed me to become very successful business-wise. I had a great professional business career. I mean, I wouldn't trade my time with Pitino for nothing. I was very blessed and very fortunate. I think going through that experience propelled me in life in general.

*** *** *** 

​​From: Jacek Duda, C, Providence (1983-87) 
Career stats: 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 95 appearances
Years with Pitino: 2

We figured out that he was kind of wild and crazy and unpredictable. First meeting, he had to get introduced to the team, and one of the players came in five minutes late. And upon meeting him, Pitino told him to run five miles a day, every day, for however many days or weeks. You can imagine the shock. I particularly didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you. But you know what, once the machine had been put in place, you kind of knew what was going to happen and how it was going to happen and so on. It was a completely different world. But overall, it wasn't that bad.

To this day, he claims that the NCAA put the time limit on practices because of our team. We were practicing three times a day: at 5 a.m., between classes, and then after classes. You knew when managers were taking orders from him for pizza that you were going to finish probably after the cafeteria was closed. The practices could be around two hours, three hours, four hours, who knows? So it was quite intense. As far as personal life, it didn't exist at the time. You had your classes, you had your study hall that everybody had to go to, but outside of that, there was no time to go to the movies or get in the coffee shop with somebody. You were too busy or too tired.

He always was very well organized and under control. You knew what time you had to get up, what time you had to get to bed, what time you had to eat. He had it very scheduled and very meticulous. You didn't really look three, four, five games ahead. It was one game at a time and getting ready as much as possible and as well as possible with all the scouting and preparation. It was very meticulous and very detailed. He had several assistants who were doing all that stuff and going over all the opponents, their plays and so on. It was kind of intense and quite detailed. I think the biggest takeaway was the work ethic and preparation, and just basically not taking everything for granted.

Everybody was playing for everybody on our Final Four team. I don't think there was any kind of egos or anybody thinking better of themselves than anybody else. Perhaps that's why, to this day, we're keeping in touch and meeting regularly and having all kinds of events together and so on. It's actually pretty exciting and lots of fun. It's a whole bunch of stories and jokes going around that nobody else was privy to. We have formed a charitable organization, Friends of Friars Basketball, where we're organizing a golf tournament each summer and all the players who are capable of joining are coming over. It's pretty cool. A friendly environment where everybody can be ourselves and enjoy their lives.

I can't believe how mild Coach Pitino is now. This stuff at St. John's is extremely mild. Earlier this year when he was playing Providence, they were down at halftime and he had the speech that's been going all around the internet. That's just a basic, mild speech. No big deal. I mean, that was nothing compared to what we had.

Coming Wednesday on FOX Sports: Part 2 in our Postcards of Pitino series exploring Pitino's glory years at Kentucky (1989-97) and Louisville (2001-17), which included one national championship at each school.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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