Report: Rick Pitino candidate for college basketball head coaching job
By SDS Staff
Published:
Rick Pitino could be coming back to college basketball.
According to a Friday report, Pitino is one of the candidates for the head coaching job at Iona, where head coach Tim Cluess recently decided to step down after 10 years with the program. Pitino is currently coaching Greek pro team Panathinaikos, a position he has held since 2018 following his ouster at Louisville.
Pitino was fired from Louisville in October 2017, ahead of the 2017-18 college basketball season, after federal prosecutors announced the program was under investigation regarding alleged “pay to play” with recruits. An Adidas executive allegedly conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a highly-ranked recruit Brian Bowen to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro. It wasn’t Pitino’s only scandal at Louisville. An escort sex scandal involving Cardinals recruits resulted in Louisville vacating wins and being stripped of its 2013 national championship and 2012 Final Four appearance. UL also self-imposed a 2015-16 postseason ban.
Pitino is best known for his tenures at Kentucky (1989-97) and Louisville (2001-17) at the college level, winning a national championship at both rival programs, as well as multiple stints in the NBA (New York Knicks 1987-98; Boston Celtics 1997-2001). His college head coaching record is 647-271.
Two candidates in the mix are Rick Pitino And Jared Grasso, per sources https://t.co/DsurFrARFK
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 13, 2020
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
