Rick Pitino has St. John’s basketball distancing itself from the rest of the Big East. The Red Storm took down No. 24 Creighton 79-73 in the battle of the conference’s best. But that wasn’t the “biggest shock” involving Pitino Sunday.

The national champion winning head coach with Kentucky and Louisville saw this stunner: Deivon Smith retuning. Smith originally looked out for the rest of the season on Feb. 12. Smith tweaked his neck in practice before facing Villanova.

Smith, however, came in to drop eight crucial points for the Red Storm. The head coach praised his guard’s stunning return, per independent college basketball writer Jaden Daly.

“One of the biggest shocks of the year for me. I was looking at, the earliest, after Connecticut, and I’ll be honest with you: Without him, we don’t win this game,” Pitino said postgame.

Feb 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino signals to the team in the first half against the Creighton Bluejays at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Pitino is in his second season at the New York private university. The 72-year-old arrived via Iona, as a head coach once viewed as old and damaged good by the rest of the college basketball world.

But in short timing, the Red Storm has risen as a powerhouse again. St. John’s is now 22-4 overall. And Sunday witnessed the program’s biggest win in quite some time. The Big East had gotten used to Creighton emerging as the dominating tournament champion. But Pitino’s group just took down the No. 24 team in the land.

The Red Storm’s turnaround isn’t the only thing that Pitino views as “special” this season. He pointed toward the crowd.

“You guys are witnessing something very, very special. I can assure you, I had nothing to do with 19,800 people here today. This is a players’ reunion with St. John’s, they’re bringing the fans back with their effort,” Pitino said.

St. John’s has hit 22 victories for the first time since the 1999-2000 season under Mike Jarvis. That was also the last time St. John’s ranked ninth in the nation. Pitino has this Red Storm team nestled there, and potentially rising up the ranks by Monday.