Rick Pitino Says He's 'Finished Coaching' and His New Book 'Was Closure for a Career'
Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino said, "I'm finished coaching" when he appeared on ESPN's Get Up Wednesday morning.
Pitino has not been on a sideline since he was fired in October 2017 "with just cause" in relation to a federal investigation into bribery and corruption in college basketball. Pitino's program was linked to the investigation through Adidas, who allegedly paid $100,000 to the family of five-star recruit Brian Bowen so he would attend Louisville.
Pitino, who is promoting his new book "Pitino: My Story", said on Wednesday that he passed a lie detector test about his knowledge of potential payments to recruits, "saying I knew nothing about any money given to anybody."
The 2013 Basketball Hall of Famer also spoke about the escort scandal that forced the Cardinals to vacate their 2013 National Championship. He claimed that he had no knowledge of the conduct of former director of basketball operations Andre McGee.
"Why would someone making a lot of money as a head coach allow those actions to happen?" Pitino said on Get Up. "And ruin his program, and ruin his legacy? It lacks common sense for anybody to believe that."
Pitino added that part of the reason he does not want to get back into coaching is because he does not want a future employer to have to answer questions about the scandals his program has been a part of recently. In an appearance on SI Now on Wednesday, Pitino claimed Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin played a role in his firing.
In lieu of coaching, Pitino said he will be going across the country helping to "motivate" basketball teams. Pitino also said that he is "defending himself now" and "this book was closure for a career."
In his 32 seasons as a Divison-I coach, Pitino went 770-271 and was the first coach to win a national title at two schools, first winning with Kentucky in 1996, and then again with Louisville in 2013—although that championship no longer counts in the NCAA record books.
