Rick Pitino says UConn is ‘no lock’ to win the Big East or the NCAA Championship

Rick Pitino says UConn’s program under Dan Hurley is “to be admired” but the Huskies are “no lock” to win the Big East or a third straight NCAA championship.
Pitino, 72, appeared on “Boomer and Gio” on Thursday morning and host Boomer Esiason asked Pitino about the No. 3-ranked Huskies (3-0), mistakenly referring to their coach as “Bobby” Hurley and the “machine” he’s “got going up there.”
“Danny Hurley has built one of the strongest programs in the nation but he does it with an insatiable desire for every little thing must be great and he is possessed with winning and that’s why he’s such a brilliant young coach, he wants to get the most out of his program,” said Pitino, whose Red Storm (3-0) are ranked No. 22 and heading into a showdown with Richard Pitino and New Mexico on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
“But I can tell you this, they’re no lock this year to win the Big East, to win the national championship. Creighton and Marquette are there. We have a highly competitive team. Xavier is a highly competitive team, but they’re very, very good.
“Connecticut is the Kentucky of the East. They stand for excellence in everything they do, they’re to be admired, but we all have to try to beat them and beat them and dethrone them from the top, and certainly we’re going to give it everything we have to do that.”
The Huskies, who rolled Le Moyne 90-49 on Wednesday night, is among the betting favorites to win a third straight NCAA championship and become the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA squads to do so.
Hurley has said he has a “pathological, sick, obsessive” need to lead UConn to new heights.
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UConn beat St. John’s, 95-90 in the the Big East Tournament semifinals a year ago, and Pitino says there is still work to do as he rebuilds the program during his second season back in the Big East.
“I think St. John’s is a very difficult job that is getting better each day because this is not a school like Vanderbilt or Duke where the rich and famous go,” he said. “These are the hard-working children of blue collar parents who can’t afford an education and are going to work one or two jobs outside of going to school, so it’s a blue collar school and we’re getting better and better each day out.
“I’ve come from Kentucky and Louisville, I’ve seen the opposite side of that spectrum, but I’m very, very proud of what St. John’s stands for, everything about them is admirable in the way they teach their students and the way they go about their life, so I’m very, very proud to be their coach.”
St. John’s visits UConn Feb. 7, and hosts Hurley and the Huskies Feb. 23 at the Garden.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.