By ADAM ZAGORIA
Rick Pitino loves to remind the Knicks and their fans about how they missed out on his Louisville guy Donovan Mitchell.
He did it again during an interview on “The Roommates Show.”
“I called the Knicks,” Pitino explained of the 2017 NBA Draft. “They had the 7th pick “I said ‘Take my guy Donovan Mitchell. He’s gonna kill it. Don’t pay attention to what you think some of his weaknesses are. He’s gonna kill it.’
“They said ‘Nah we can’t take him that high.’ “They wound up taking Frank Nicoletti.
“Nicalina?” Josh Hart said of Frank Ntilikina.
“So just think about that. They could’ve had Donovan at 7. They couldn’t take him, it was too high but they took Frank.”
Ntilikina is now out of the league while Mitchell is a six-time NBA All-Star.
Pitino “I called the Knicks. They had 7th pick
“I said ‘Take my guy Donovan Mitchell. He’s gonna kill it’
“They said ‘Nah we can’t take him that high’
“They wound up taking Frank Nicoletti
Josh “Nicalina?
…
Pitino “Coulda had Donovan at 7. But too high. So they took Frank” pic.twitter.com/ZCcy6pjx4D
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 21, 2025
PITINO SAYS COLLEGE HOOPS IS AT ITS ‘ZENITH’
Pitino believes college basketball’s overall skill level is at its “zenith” at this moment.
The Hall of Fame coach attributes the strength of the game to the combination of the influx of European talent and the retention of experienced players in the college game because of NIL. There is also an absolutely loaded freshman class this year led by AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer, Nate Ament, Caleb Wilson and others.
“I am so impressed with college basketball, more than ever in my coaching career,” he said after No.14 St. John’s dominated Bucknell, 97-49, Thursday night. “The influx of foreign players staying in college instead of going to European pro teams has made the game stronger, and players sticking around has done the same. From an execution and talent standpoint, the game is at its zenith.”
The Red Storm (3-1), meantime, now head to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival where they will face No. 16 Iowa State on Monday and Baylor on Tuesday.
“Iowa State and [Baylor] are as difficult to play against as any teams in basketball,” he said. “Their defense and rebounding are relentless. It’s great for us to go against that competition.”
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