Rick Pitino

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Sophomore
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
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Just signed as Head Coach at Iona. Opportunity missed? I always wondered if he could've been the 'breakthrough' recruiter we've always needed. Even without using hookers.
 
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Amazing coach who is also a con artist scum bag but yes: opportunity missed. His Kentucky teams right before he left for the NBA I would take against most NCAA champions all time. They were well-rounded, deep, and played hard defense (and talented). His late Louisville teams were pretty awesome, too.

NBA guys he has recruited/developed:

-Donovan Mitchell
-Terry Rozier
-Montrezl Harrell
-Damion Lee
-Gorgui Dieng

Former NBA guys
-Reece Gaines
-Francisco Garcia
-Terrence Williams
-Russ Smith
-Earl Clark
-Ron Mercer
-Antoine Walker
-Tony Delk
-Jeff Shepphard
-Jamal Mashburn
-Derek Anderson
-Walter McCarty
-Nazr Mohammad
-Jamal Magloire
 
Well, he might be available to us if/when L leaves. Don't think his aim in life is to remain at Iona. Then again, he's only a couple years younger (2 or 3) than Larranaga.
 
Well, he might be available to us if/when L leaves. Don't think his aim in life is to remain at Iona. Then again, he's only a couple years younger (2 or 3) than Larranaga.
Apparently it is his aim.
“My passion in basketball started in New York and will end there at Iona College,” Pitino said in a statement.
 
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Well, he might be available to us if/when L leaves. Don't think his aim in life is to remain at Iona. Then again, he's only a couple years younger (2 or 3) than Larranaga.
This will be Pitino's last job. in 2024 when Coach L's contract is up Pitino will be 71
 
Apparently it is his aim.
“My passion in basketball started in New York and will end there at Iona College,” Pitino said in a statement.
Talk at this point is cheap. Iona gets him back into the game; if he excels, he could be leaving sooner than later. As CTCane pointed out, though, it'll mean nothing to us if L stays through his contract.
 
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At some point, someone remind me how Coach L got such a long contract when he has been to two Sweet Sixteens in 10 years.
Help me to remember.
 
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At some point, someone remind me how Coach L got such a long contract when he has been to two Sweet Sixteens in 10 years.
Help me to remember.

Because before L, Miami had been to ONE Sweet 16 in program history. Never mind the fact that L has been in the NCAA Tournament 4 times in his tenure(Should have been 5), which works out to around a 50% clip. I don't know if you've noticed, Miami isn't Kentucky. It's amazing that fans, most of whom didn't realize we had a program before 2012 now want to come in and start demanding that everyone and their mother gets fired. L needs to show legit progress this fall, but I'm not bailing on this coach right now.
 
Because before L, Miami had been to ONE Sweet 16 in program history. Never mind the fact that L has been in the NCAA Tournament 4 times in his tenure(Should have been 5), which works out to around a 50% clip. I don't know if you've noticed, Miami isn't Kentucky. It's amazing that fans, most of whom didn't realize we had a program before 2012 now want to come in and start demanding that everyone and their mother gets fired. L needs to show legit progress this fall, but I'm not bailing on this coach right now.
For what its worth we've seen Florida make the final 4 4 times in the last 20 years with mainly Florida kids so maybe its time to ask for a little more.
 
For what its worth we've seen Florida make the final 4 4 times in the last 20 years with mainly Florida kids so maybe its time to ask for a little more.

I completely agree. This is not 40 years ago when Blue Bloods were the only good teams in college basketball. With the right coach with the right approach is at the right school, any school can be a consistent winner.
Leonard Hamilton has proven that at Florida State. All he does is use all of his scholarships, play 10 kids per game and win 20 plus games per year.
 
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I completely agree. This is not 40 years ago when Blue Bloods were the only good teams in college basketball. With the right coach with the right approach is at the right school, any school can be a consistent winner.
Leonard Hamilton has proven that at Florida State. All he does is use all of his scholarships, play 10 kids per game and win 20 plus games per year.
Seems like we've been stuck in the sweet 16 forever. I agree that we need to stock pile this team with kids who can play. We should have already developed some kid to replace Sam.
 
For what its worth we've seen Florida make the final 4 4 times in the last 20 years with mainly Florida kids so maybe its time to ask for a little more.

Three of those appearances was with a Coach that is probably a borderline HOFer for what he did at UF. Yes, ANY program can luck into a great coach and have success. Unfortunately, you can't count on that. UMiami doesn't get community support(Unlike UF), UMiami is in a market that doesn't give a **** about basketball unless it's elite.
 
Three of those appearances was with a Coach that is probably a borderline HOFer for what he did at UF. Yes, ANY program can luck into a great coach and have success. Unfortunately, you can't count on that. UMiami doesn't get community support(Unlike UF), UMiami is in a market that doesn't give a **** about basketball unless it's elite.

That means you need to find a coach who has the drive and desire to make it elite.
 
Three of those appearances was with a Coach that is probably a borderline HOFer for what he did at UF. Yes, ANY program can luck into a great coach and have success. Unfortunately, you can't count on that. UMiami doesn't get community support(Unlike UF), UMiami is in a market that doesn't give a **** about basketball unless it's elite.
To Coach L's credit his hands have been tied behind his back talent wise. We lost Bruce Brown, Dewan Huell and Lonnie walker to the pros. Deng Gak has been injured since day 1. 2018 brought nothing. Ever since 2016 Coach L has been recruiting on another level, then the scandal hit and we fell off a cliff. He's getting back to it though. I think that this past year was worst of it.
 
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