At 70, Rick Pitino wants to coach basketball ‘five or six more years,’ but where?
Will Rick Pitino finish his career at Iona, as the former Kentucky and Louisville coach said not so long ago.
Well, with most things Pitino, it’s complicated.
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports made the trip to New Rochelle, New York, to talk to Pitino about his 20-7 Gaels and his future.
“I want to coach five or six more years,” Pitino told Norlander. “I still exercise like a demon. I still get after it. And as long as you do that, your mind is sharp, I’m still more passionate about it today than I’ve ever been in my life. And again, it’s because I know my window’s closing. I want to do something special, whether it’s at Iona or it doesn’t matter. I want to do something special, and I think we are doing something special.”
Where Pitino will be for those “five or six years” is open for debate.
“If I wanted to leave, it would be a job that I thought could get to a Final Four,” Pitino said. “It would be a great place where I want to live, but I don’t see it happening. I don’t see it happening. I’m really tied into these kids. And they came because of me.”
Writes Norlander, “Over the course of a 30-minute interview, Pitino fluctuated between loyalty to Iona and openness to one more big challenge.”
The coach’s name is already being mentioned as a possibility at Georgetown, should Patrick Ewing be fired.
His name was cleared by the NCAA’s Independent Review Panel in the case of Louisville’s transgressions when Pitino was the coach at U of L.
Pitino is 70 years old, but the guess here is that he’ll want one more swing at the big time. To prove Louisville was wrong for firing him. And to prove that he can still coach at an elite level.
By the way, Iona has won seven straight games heading into its Friday night matchup at Mount St. Mary’s.
Here’s the story: With his name cleared, Rick Pitino must make a choice
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 12:53 PM.
