Rick Pitino recalls urging Knicks to draft Donovan Mitchell before they took Frank Ntilikina

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Nov 21, 2025

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NEW YORK — The Knicks probably should have listened to Rick Pitino.

Appearing on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s “Roomates Show” podcast, the now-St. John’s head coach said he urged the Knicks in 2017 to draft Donovan Mitchell, whom he coached at Louisville.

The Knicks, who were run by Phil Jackson at the time, held the No. 8 pick in that year’s draft.

“I called them up and said, ‘Listen, take my guy Donovan Mitchell. He’s gonna kill it. Don’t pay attention to what you think some of his weaknesses are. He’s gonna kill it,’ ” said Pitino, who was a Knicks assistant from 1983-85 and their head coach from 1987-89.

“They said, ‘Nah, I don’t know if we can take him that high.’ ”

Instead, the Knicks selected French point guard Frank Ntilikina, who never came close to living up to his lottery-pick status.

In four seasons with the Knicks, Ntilikina averaged only 5.5 points per game and shot 36.6% from the field in 211 appearances, including 55 starts.

Mitchell, who was born in Westchester County and played high school basketball in Connecticut, went No. 13 to the Utah Jazz and quickly established himself as one of the stars of that draft class.

The high-scoring guard, now of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been an All-Star in each of the past six years and finished fifth in NBA MVP voting last season. Mitchell’s Cavs are one of the Knicks’ biggest threats in the Eastern Conference.

Before he committed to Louisville in 2014, Mitchell had narrowed his list of schools to Villanova, Providence and Indiana, Pitino recalled.

But Pitino convinced Mitchell to visit Louisville before he made his decision.

“I watched him in summer basketball and I loved him. I thought he was a freak athlete but couldn’t shoot,” Pitino told Brunson and Hart.

“I said, ‘Just visit. Watch the player development session. I’m gonna put you on a split screen with Steph Curry. I’m gonna show you Steph Curry’s arc, and I’m gonna show you your arc.’ So we did it.”

That session made quite the impression on Mitchell, who disappeared to the bathroom during a dinner later in the visit.

“My phone is blowing up in my pocket … and my kids are telling me that Donovan Mitchell just committed,” Pitino said. “In the bathroom, he went on Twitter and committed to Louisville. He came back and said, ‘Coach, stand up.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Give me a hug. I’m a Louisville Cardinal.’ ”

Mitchell was part of the same draft class as Hart, whom the Jazz drafted 30th overall before trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers in a draft-day deal.

“He was in my draft workout,” Hart told Pitino on the podcast.

“I’m like, ‘His jump shot’s trash. I’m gonna give him space.’ I don’t think he missed a shot his whole workout.”

Mitchell, a 36.7% shooter on 3-pointers over his nine-year NBA career, has also credited Pitino for helping him transform his jump shot during his two years at Louisville.

“I tell people all the time, those were the worst two years but the best two years of my life,” Mitchell said during a recent interview with Boardroom.

“I was always a dog. I was always hungry. But there’s, like, another level. It’s like another button to be pushed. That man is the master of finding whatever that is and pushing it.”