An ‘Evening with Rick Pitino?’ Ex-coach coming back to Louisville for book signing

Rick Pitino, who according to one radio host vowed he’d never step foot in Kentucky again, will be making an exception next week when he returns to Louisville for a book signing event.

An “Evening with Rick Pitino” will be held from 5 to 8:15 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Omni Louisville Hotel. A $25 ticket will include a copy of the book.

Hosted by the Courier Journal, Pitino will sign copies of “Pitino: My Story” for two hours before sitting down with the CJ’s Jeff Greer for a one-on-one interview.

It will mark the former Cardinals men’s basketball coach’s first appearance in Louisville since his firing last October in the wake of an FBI investigation into alleged corruption in college basketball.

Shortly after the firing, radio host John Ramsey said he’d talked with Pitino and was told the coach would not be coming back to town.

“I actually had this conversation with Coach Pitino,” Ramsey said last October. “He says he will never step foot back in the state of Kentucky. He’s feeling pretty bitter right now and that might change, and I want to not believe that, but he sounded pretty determined and staunch on his stance.”

Pitino and his former assistants who were implicated in a federal indictment have never been charged. Pitino’s new book, which hit stores this week, tells his side of the story in both the FBI scandal and the NCAA investigation that resulted in Louisville being forced to vacate its 2013 national title.

For tickets to the event, go to tickets.courierjournal.com.