A Pitino could be roaming the Louisville sideline in the future.
Richard Pitino, that is.
The son of current St. John’s and former Louisville men’s basketball coach, Rick Pitino, has become a top candidate for the vacant Cardinals job, according to a report from Cardinal Authority.
The younger Pitino has been “in contact” several times with Louisville athletic director Josh Heird during the past few days, the report stated.
Richard Pitino has been serving as the head coach at New Mexico for the past three seasons and had led the Lobos to a Mountain West Conference tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they were knocked out by Clemson in the first round.
Pitino had served as an assistant coach coach at Louisville from 2007 to 2009 while his father was still running the program,
The 41-year-old worked at Florida and then went back to Louisville during the 2011-12 season as an associate head coach.
Richard Pitino had head coaching stops at Florida International and Minnesota before arriving at New Mexico.
Charleston’s Pat Kelsey, Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman and Indiana State’s Josh Schertz are also names being floated for the job, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Former Louisville point guard Peyton Siva, who played from 2010-13, endorsed the idea of the younger Pitino coaching the Cardinals.
“He’s a great person, first of all,” Siva told WDRB. “He’s a smart dude who really knows basketball. And he would get the fan base excited again.
“I know it’s about winning. Any coach you get has to win. But Richard was here. He knows what Louisville basketball is about. He knows the community. He knows basketball. Nobody would work any harder.”
Louisville is replacing former head coach Kenny Payne, who was fired two weeks ago after he led the program to a 12-52 record during his two seasons at the helm.
While the reaction out of Louisville seems to be positive, it may throw a wrench in the succession plans of Rick Pitino, who had expressed hope that his son would take over for him at St. John’s down the line.
Pitino told reporters after a game last month on Long Island that he wanted his son to stay at New Mexico “until I leave St. John’s and he can take my place then.”
“Most fathers will brag about their sons, but I’ll brag about the assistant coach I had,” the elder Pitino said. “Richard was responsible for one Final Four. Without him, we wouldn’t have gotten there. Richard is one of the bright minds in the game today. He’s a great coach, he’s a great communicator.”
