St. John's basketball coach Rick Pitino is set to stay in the Big Apple. Pitino is shutting down any rumors or innuendo that he will leave the Red Storm for another school.

The team's head coach is also joking that one reason why he won't leave is because of his salary.

“Why would I leave?” Pitino said on WFAN Radio, and reported by Awful Announcing. “Where am I going to go that I would want to leave? This is New York City, the greatest city in the world. This is a program that is in the top 10. I’m overpaid right now. They should take some money away from me. I don’t need anything.

“My agent’s gonna kill me for saying that because he keeps saying ‘You’re not in the top five of Big East coaches.’ He’s gonna kill me now.”

Pitino won a Big East Conference regular season title at St. John's, in just his second season there. St. John's basketball is currently 17-2 in the conference.

St. John's is having the best season the school has seen in decades

St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino addresses the fans after winning the Big East Regular Season Championship at Madison Square Garden.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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Pitino is set to take the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure. He's already led three different programs to the Final Four. They are: Kentucky, Louisville and Providence. Pitino also went to the NCAA tournament while he was coaching Iona.

Pitino was out of the college game for a while due to a scandal that occurred while he was in Louisville. The NCAA vacated the Cardinals' national championship, and Pitino was let go by the school. The legendary coach then went off to coach in Greece for awhile before returning to college basketball at Iona.

This season has been remarkable for the Red Storm. Pitino has the team heading to the Big East Tournament in New York City as the no. 1 conference seed. A championship at Madison Square Garden will improve the team's March Madness seeding. St. John's has a chance to enter the NCAA tournament as a no. 1 seed.

The school hasn't been to a Final Four in 40 years. Legendary St. John's head coach Lou Carnesecca, who passed away late last year, led the school to a national semi-final in 1985. Pitino honored Carnesecca earlier this year by wearing one of the late coach's trademark sweaters.

Before the Big East Tournament, St. John's has one last regular season game to play. St. John's basketball faces off Saturday against Marquette.