Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino has been hired by St. John's to revitalise a storied programme that has not won an NCAA Tournament game in more than two decades.

The school announced the hiring on Monday, and the deal is reportedly for six years.

"Coach Pitino is one of the most brilliant minds in the history of the game and has won at the highest levels everywhere he has coached," St. John's athletic director Mike Cragg said in a statement.

"There is no doubt in my mind he will restore a championship-level programme and culture for St. John's Basketball."

Pitino spent the last three years coaching at nearby Iona – leading the mid-major to a pair of NCAA berths – and this will be the 70-year-old's third coaching job in the Big East after stints at Providence and Louisville.

He guided Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national titles, has been to seven Final Fours and has coached five schools to the NCAA Tournament, beginning with Boston University in 1983.

Pitino went 64-22 during his three seasons with Iona and takes the St. John's job three days after the 13th-seeded Gaels lost to UConn 87-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Now he is tasked with turning around a St. John's programme that has appeared in only three NCAA Tournaments over the last two decades – most recently in 2019 – and has not won a tournament game since 2000.

The Red Storm went 18-15 in 2022-23 and finished eighth in the Big East, leading to the firing of Mike Anderson on March 10.

In 34 seasons as a head coach, Pitino has an unofficial record of 834-293 (.740) – but 123 wins at Louisville have been vacated by the NCAA, including the 2013 national title, for recruiting violations.

Pitino was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 over corruption and allegations of NCAA violations.