Louisville Fires Pitino, Some Side Issues Emerge

Well Rick Pitino is officially done at Louisville and almost certainly won’t find another college job, so he’s most likely out of the business as a coach anyway.

The vote was unanimous too.

Pitino says he’s going to fight to defend his reputation but frankly it’s a bit late. His first hit was in Hawaii as an assistant coach, a significant bit of his reputation rolled down his leg in Porcini’s in 2003, and a lot of what was left departed after the hooker-and-recruits scandal erupted in 2015.

No one doubts his coaching chops; it’s his judgment and control of his program that people are dubious about.

Meanwhile text records show a bit more personal involvement in Brian Bowen’s recruitment than we had expected and Bowen’s family has been living in a fancy Louisville hotel which raises the question of how they could afford it.

Well maybe they can afford a bit of high-end rent. None of us know much if anything about their resources and assets. Assumptions are a nasty thing.

And even if they can’t, cousin Jason can.

Cousin Jason is Jason Richardson, who made over $100 million over a 14-year NBA career.

A few months rent wouldn't be a stretch for him at all.

Meanwhile, Iowa’s Fran McCaffery, long ago Wake Forest’s White Magic, just guaranteed his unpopularity with his colleagues.

Here’s a reaction from the Duke Chronicle which is pretty solid.

Oh wait, that’s about the UNC scandal. It’s getting hard to keep it all straight.