Copied the more interesting excerpts. Link for those who wish to read whole thing.
Pitino told me he has only seen Louisville play for a few minutes, but he knows what’s happening there. He’ll give you chapter and verse about how the Kentucky governor stuffed Louisville’s Board of Trustees with Kentucky fans who engineered his ouster — “They torched the program,” he said — but he insisted that he takes no pleasure in seeing the place burn. “I don’t revel in the demise of the program at all,” he told me. “I love the people at Louisville, the fans there, the tradition. I want them to do well. I’ve tried to lose my bitterness about what happened. I was falsely accused, and I’ve moved on to greener pastures.”
While some schools (like Arizona and LSU) also jettisoned their head coaches, others dug in and waited for the dust to settle. The prime example is Kansas, which immediately took a confrontational position with the NCAA and stuck by Bill Self, who rewarded them with an NCAA championship in 2022. When the Kansas case was finally decided this past October, the Jayhawks were not hit with a postseason ban and the school’s self-imposed penalties were lessened. The final, ironic twist is that many of the actions that were considered fraudulent at the time the SDNY filed charges are now permissible in college sports. “There’s basically no NCAA anymore,” Pitino said. “There’s no compliance. They can no longer throw things against the wall and accuse people without facts.”
Given the state of affairs in Louisville, many Cardinals fans have taken to social media to float the prospect of bringing Pitino back for one more reclamation project. He laughed when I raised the possibility. “I would never even answer the phone if they called,” he said. “I wish them well. I want them to do well down the road because of all the good memories I have, but for me, I’m either at St. John’s, or I’ll be retired.”
themessenger.com
Whatever the future holds for Louisville, Pitino will not be the answer. That only leaves the saddest question of all: What if?
Louisville, one of the great programs in college basketball, has devolved into an unmitigated disaster. But Rick Pitino isn’t walking through that door again. Now at St. John’s, he says he wouldn’t pick up the phone if the Cardinals ever called...
It took five long years to play out, but the case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York fizzled when it became clear that all those claims caught on wiretaps were fraudulent boasts made by low-level scam artists. When Louisville argued its case to the NCAA, the school buttressed its case by asserting that Pitino had no knowledge of any wrongdoing. And it worked, because in November 2022, the NCAA only gave Louisville minor penalties and exonerated Pitino entirely, stating that not only did he not commit any major violations, he had also demonstrated that he created an atmosphere of compliance...Pitino told me he has only seen Louisville play for a few minutes, but he knows what’s happening there. He’ll give you chapter and verse about how the Kentucky governor stuffed Louisville’s Board of Trustees with Kentucky fans who engineered his ouster — “They torched the program,” he said — but he insisted that he takes no pleasure in seeing the place burn. “I don’t revel in the demise of the program at all,” he told me. “I love the people at Louisville, the fans there, the tradition. I want them to do well. I’ve tried to lose my bitterness about what happened. I was falsely accused, and I’ve moved on to greener pastures.”
While some schools (like Arizona and LSU) also jettisoned their head coaches, others dug in and waited for the dust to settle. The prime example is Kansas, which immediately took a confrontational position with the NCAA and stuck by Bill Self, who rewarded them with an NCAA championship in 2022. When the Kansas case was finally decided this past October, the Jayhawks were not hit with a postseason ban and the school’s self-imposed penalties were lessened. The final, ironic twist is that many of the actions that were considered fraudulent at the time the SDNY filed charges are now permissible in college sports. “There’s basically no NCAA anymore,” Pitino said. “There’s no compliance. They can no longer throw things against the wall and accuse people without facts.”
Given the state of affairs in Louisville, many Cardinals fans have taken to social media to float the prospect of bringing Pitino back for one more reclamation project. He laughed when I raised the possibility. “I would never even answer the phone if they called,” he said. “I wish them well. I want them to do well down the road because of all the good memories I have, but for me, I’m either at St. John’s, or I’ll be retired.”
With Louisville in Tatters, Cardinals Fans Can Only Wonder: What if the School Had Never Fired Rick Pitino?
Louisville, one of the great programs in college basketball, has devolved into an unmitigated disaster. But Rick Pitino isn’t walking through that door again. Now at St. John’s, he says he wouldn’t pick up the phone if the Cardinals ever called
themessenger.com
Whatever the future holds for Louisville, Pitino will not be the answer. That only leaves the saddest question of all: What if?
