Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino
Richard Andrew "Rick" Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville, and coached the Cardinals to the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. As a college head coach, Pitino has also served at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. In addition to his college coaching career, Pitino also served two stints in the NBA, coaching the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth18 September 1952
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
When you coach Russ Smith, you have a nervous breakdown on every possession. He's not from a different country. He's from a different planet.
Humility is what makes teams great. I've preached it for a long period of time.
Football is only once a week. NASCAR is once a week. Those sports are insanely popular. Horse racing is oversaturated. Unless tracks cut back to three days a week of full fields, a lot of people will really hurt down the road. Horse racing, to survive, has to go to that. Let's face it: Churchill Downs only does well on Derby Week.
If I had one regret in life... it's that I was not more humble at an earlier age.
The term 'overachiever' sort of makes it look like the person has mediocre talent and he just works so hard that he achieves beyond what you would think. 'Overachiever' is sort of a - it's sort of an incorrect term. An overachiever is someone that's just willing to pay the price to get so much more out of his performance.
Failure is good. It's fertilizer. Everything I've learned about coaching, I've learned from making mistakes.
The one thing I've always said: Let your family and close friends be the judge of who you are as a person. Don't worry about being judged by others who don't know you, because your family and close friends know what you're all about, good and bad.
This is a very difficult conference. I don't think anyone in Louisville besides me knew that. Now they all know.
The new format is great. It's run just like the women's tournament used to be.
It's my wedding night, and we're in a posh New York City hotel ready to ... you know ... when I get a call. It's Jim, and he's down in the lobby and he wants to meet with me. He tells me there's this kid named Louie Orr in Cincinnati that we just have to land, and he says he needs me to get there and seal the deal. I tell him, 'Jim, it's my wedding night.' He was single at the time and totally consumed with basketball, so I guess he didn't understand.
I'm extremely proud. We talked this morning and everything he said he wanted this team to do, it's done. It's really amazing to see.
It worked OK. It was to our favor. The only problem is our point guard (Andre McGee) is breaking down physically. He's doing a good job, but he's wearing out.
They are tough, they get after you. They have quick hands and are hard-nosed. They drive so much and draw fouls. I am impressed with them. They have the toughness to compete in the Big East. They are tough guys.
With seven new players, you're never going to have an experienced lineup. This is who we are. ... Our guys did a good job. The key is six weeks from now, how good can we become?