Despite being disgraced at the beginning of the season, former Louisville Cardinals coach Rick Pitino isn’t ready to leave the game behind.
Rick Pitino exited Louisville in October humiliated. Yet another scandal was tearing down the Louisville Cardinals and this time, he didn’t survive it, professionally.
He still has the itch for the game, though.
In statements made to ESPN on Friday, Pitino declared his desire to keep coaching the game he loves. The coach also claimed that it didn’t matter where he landed, so long as he did land.
He saved his most biting comments for the people who brought him down at Louisville, though. He termed members of Louisville’s executives a “board of traitors.”
It’s understandable why Pitino wants to continue to coach. The 65-year old has led a team every year since 1985 – it’s all he knows.
He’s probably delusional if he thinks this isn’t the end of his career, however.
When a personal scandal involving extortion and blackmail isn’t near the top of the list of issues the face of a collegiate program presents, there’s something wrong.
The scandal that resulted in the vacating of Louisville’s 2013 title – which Pitino continues to claim ignorance over – was extremely bad. There were literally exotic dancers and escorts profiting to entice prospects to the school. That’s terrible.
Then, the FBI honed in on a pay-for-play program that led to the ouster of their athletic director. The prospect involved in that scandal never played a single minute for the Cardinals and the program quickly dipped into disarray.
How can a college program hire a man so embroiled in scandal? Why would an NBA team even bother?
It’s possible a low-level program in a one-bid conference would be willing to give Pitino a shot to get back into the game, but there’s no real reason for Pitino to jump at that unless coaching is truly his number one priority.
His days as a face of college basketball are over.