Rick Pitino told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Wednesday that he had not been offered the UNLV basketball coaching job, but plans to fly to Las Vegas to meet with the school's president and athletics director in the next few weeks.
ESPN's Dick Vitale also reports Pitino has spoken with UNLV, and reliable sources told him UNLV's athletic director, Charles Cavagnaro, did indeed make a direct coaching offer.
"I think it could be very soon," Pitino told the Boston Globe on
Thursday from Florida. "They've made it clear that they want me."
Pitino said he would make a decision on whether or not to pursue the Runnin' Rebels job if the latest NCAA sanctions against the school didn't hinder his ability to coach a national contender.
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Pitino's College Career
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Year
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School
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Record
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1978-79
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Boston U.
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17-9
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1979-80
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Boston U.
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21-9
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1980-81
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Boston U.
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13-14
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1981-82
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Boston U.
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19-9 |
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1982-83
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Boston U.
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21-10
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1985-86
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Providence
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17-14
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1986-87
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Providence
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25-9
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1989-90
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Kentucky
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14-14
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1990-91
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Kentucky
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22-6
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1991-92
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Kentucky
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29-7
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1992-93
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Kentucky
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30-4
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1993-94
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Kentucky
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27-7
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1994-95
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Kentucky
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28-5
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1995-96
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Kentucky
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34-2
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1996-97
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Kentucky
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35-5
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Totals
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15 yrs.
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352-124
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"They didn't make me an offer," Pitino told ESPN.com. "I told them that I need to know about the sanctions and how severe they are and whether I would have the ability to win. I need to look at the players and the character and that's the determining factor. I'll go out there sometime in the near future for a day and look at it, come home and think about it."
Earlier in the day, the former Boston Celtics coach called UCLA coach Steve Lavin and told him he wasn't interested in the Bruins' coaching job, as had been reported. But Pitino said he wasn't looking at any other jobs except UNLV's. He said UNLV is sending him a copy of the sanctions to review.
"I'm not going out there this week, but sometime in the near future to sit down with the president (Carol Harter) and the athletic director (Charles Cavagnaro) to meet with them," Pitino said. "I think there is potential, but I want to be at a place that has a chance to win right away. I don't want the same thing like at Kentucky (where there were sanctions that set the program back)."
Harter issued a statement Wednesday afternoon: "There has been a great of deal of speculation over the past few days about the status of the UNLV men's basketball program. Because this program is so important to the community at large, I intend to consider all the long-term coaching options available to us very carefully. There is no specific timetable for this period of due diligence."
Harter added that she wanted to remind her supporters in the community that "we are in the midst of the college basketball season and I'm enormously pleased with how coach Max Good has brought the team together in a difficult transition period."
Harter didn't deny that UNLV is pursuing Pitino, but wouldn't get into day-to-day speculation about him.
Pitino called Good, the interim coach who replaced fired Bill Bayno last month, to apologize for not knowing the status of the job. But Pitino said if he took the job, he would review with each coach to learn if they would want to remain on staff.
"I talked to Rick (Wednesday) morning," Good said. "He called me to apologize because he said he was led to believe the job was open. I've known Rick a long time and I think he's a decent person and I appreciate him calling me to tell me that. He didn't realize that the job isn't technically open until Dick Vitale called him and explained the situation."
Pitino said he is moving his family, which includes two school-aged children ages 10 and 8, from Boston to his South Florida home.
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Wed, Jan 10
Despite the temporary tarnish the Boston Celtics have put on his star, Rick Pitino is a great basketball coach, and he will choose a job opportunity that will give him the best chance to be immediately successful, and to compete for a national championship. Remember, Pitino had a budding dynasty at Kentucky, winning the National Championship in 1996, coming within an overtime period of winning another in 1997 with a vastly different team (including an injured Derek Anderson), and having a team he put together win the National Championship again in 1998 (under the guidance of Tubby Smith). If Pitino had stayed at Kentucky, I am confident he could have knocked on the championship door again. That's nothing against Tubby Smith, because it takes some time to adjust to a coaching change, and he has had some players defect, self-destruct and even had a player pass away.
UNLV will make a serious run at Pitino, and the decision will come down to whether Pitino believes that UNLV has the true commitment to winning his way, with Pitino in complete control, and whether NCAA sanctions will restrict him from competing for a title for an extended period. UNLV is Pitino's job to turn down, but so are several others that aren't even open yet. Any major college with resources becomes an immediate player if it can land Rick Pitino.
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"I used to be excited about moving, but now I'm very upset about leaving Boston," Pitino said. "I'm 48 years old and I've got eight to 10 years left coaching and I don't want to move again. I'm going to do some broadcasting for the college (NCAA) Tournament. If I have to do some broadcasting for this year because the right job isn't available, then I will."
Pitino said he wanted to relax for a few weeks. He said he's feeling good, but is a bit melancholy. He said he called Lavin because he felt for him.
"I'm still puzzled how this happened," Pitino said of UCLA athletic director Pete Dalis, saying Tuesday that he called Pitino in December.
"When we talked, I was pulling into the Garden and we talked for less than a minute," Pitino said. "I don't understand why I'm in the middle of this. He didn't contact me about being interested in UCLA. I'm not interested in UCLA."
Lavin said that Pitino left him a message Wednesday morning after reading comments made by Dalis. The two coaches spoke for 35 minutes in the afternoon before UCLA's practice in advance of Thursday's game against USC. Lavin said he has great respect and admiration for Pitino and understood that he was under an awkward and difficult set of circumstances that are beyond his control.
According to Lavin, Pitino said Dalis did call him and the two only briefly spoke about the job. Pitino told Lavin that Dalis asked if he was thinking about leaving the NBA to return to college coaching.
Dalis' bizarre admission and the awkward timing of calling Pitino, which he was quoted as saying had nothing to do with the UCLA job, blindsided Lavin after practice Tuesday. Lavin said he confronted Dalis on Monday and asked him if he had talked to Pitino. Lavin said Dalis told him that he didn't, but on Wednesday the two acknowledged a miscommunication when they met in Lavin's office.
"He explained why it happened and said it was no big deal," Lavin said. "He said he talks to coaches and I understand that in his profession that he will do that. But it's unfortunate about the way I found out about the calls to Pitino."
Lavin is under contract until 2005 and if he were terminated would be due $765,000. Bruins players were upset that talk of hiring Pitino dominated chatter on campus before the Bruins' critical game against the Trojans. The Bruins started the year 2-3 but are 7-4 entering the game.
"I understand this comes with the territory at UCLA and you're going to be on the hotseat 24-7," Lavin said. "I've been here as an assistant and a head coach. That's part of the climate and culture we work in."
But the comments still put Lavin in a precarious position with the sense that Dalis was looking for a replacement. Dalis denied that Tuesday, saying that Lavin was the coach. He reassured him of that Wednesday.
Former UCLA and current Georgia coach Jim Harrick, who was fired by Dalis, was livid over Tuesday's events.
"For UCLA to have six or seven coaches after John Wooden since 1975 is an embarrassment," said Harrick, who won the '95 title at UCLA. "Sometimes you've got to look at the guy running the ship."
Meanwhile, Pitino has to review the sanctions at UNLV, something that wasn't an issue if he had been interested at UCLA.
The NCAA banned UNLV from the 2001 postseason (although the school is appealing) over the recruitment of Lamar Odom.The governing body also ruled that UNLV cannot participate in outside tournaments or travel next season and will have to reduce
one more scholarship for the next two seasons.
The NCAA said it was concerned the violations were "very similar" to those in a 1993 infractions case involving UNLV, and concern was expressed that university officials did not appear to accept responsibility for some of the violations.
It stopped short, however, of imposing the "death penalty" -- shutting down the program -- despite finding that UNLV is a repeat
violator because the violations occurred within five years of the penalties imposed in 1993.
In its report, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions said the university "should have had a heightened sense of vigilance"
about its basketball program. UNLV must also show cause why it should not be penalized further if it does not disassociate itself from a local dentist, who allegedly made payments to Odom, and a local attorney and booster.
In September, UNLV said it would voluntarily cut one scholarship and have Bayno spend more time at the university
administering to the program in an attempt to satisfy the NCAA's investigation.
That didn't prove enough, however, as the NCAA went beyond
UNLV's admissions of certain violations to find even more itself.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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AUDIO VIDEO
 Dick Vitale on the latest news concerning UNLV's coaching offer to Rick Pitino.
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 ESPN's Dick Vitale tells The Morning Show that he wouldn't be surprised to see Rick Pitino become UNLV's next head coach.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
John Feinstein and Tony Kornheiser discuss the possibility of Rick Pitino heading to UNLV.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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