Friday Headlines: Rick Pitino says there are no more blue bloods in college basketball

Mar 26, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks with the media during a press conference ahead of the east regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images When a college baske

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When a college basketball fan thinks of the sport, it’s hard not to start with the Blue Bloods.

Kentucky. North Carolina. Duke. Kansas. UCLA. All of these programs together — with possibly the recent surge from UConn — write most (if not all) of the history of college basketball.

St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino — a two-time national championship winner at Kentucky and one-time national championship winner at Louisville* — attended a media conference in Washington D.C. ahead of his team’s matchup

against the Duke Blue Devils that’s scheduled for this evening.

In the media conference, he claimed that the Blue Bloods no longer control college basketball. He believes that the combination of the increased traffic of the transfer portal along with NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) has allowed non-traditional schools to up their game and compete with schools that once might have had an advantage in recruiting/facilities/coaching staffs.

“There’s no difference anymore. There’s no difference between Michigan State, who is a blue blood, to any of the other teams from the conferences, from Mississippi, when they get it going. It’s all going to be the same… There’s no such thing as a blue blood anymore,” said Pitino.

The “Blue Blood” programs, though, have done pretty well themselves since NIL began in 2021. Kansas and North Carolina met in the 2022 NCAA title game, with UConn winning both the 2023 and 2024 championships.

Florida winning last year was a change in that trend, but so far this year, Duke, UConn, and even Michigan State remain, with Duke being the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

With the likes of Arizona, Illinois, Iowa State, Michigan, Alabama, Purdue, and others competing at the same or an even higher level than some of the Blue Bloods, Pitino does have a point.

But the Blue Bloods are still a force in today’s game and should still continue to be as the sport continues to evolve. UK fans can only hope that Kentucky finds its way through the turbulence that is NIL, recruiting, and the transfer portal.