Here’s something no one had on their bingo cards back at the beginning of 2024: former Kentucky basketball coach Rick Pitino is now a Kentucky football booster.
No, really.
Once beloved by Big Blue Nation and then reviled after accepting the head coaching job at Louisville in 2001 and eventually leading the Cardinals to the national championship 12 years later, Pitino revealed the news Thursday during a sit-down with Kentucky Sports Radio’s Pardon My Take podcast.
Pitino cited his friendship with coach Mark Stoops for why he donated to the football program. He added that he would also be willing to donate to the basketball program after making similar remarks months earlier when Mark Pope was announced as Kentucky’s coach following John Calipari’s exit.
Pope is a former player of Pitino’s and was a member of the school’s 1996 national championship team.
“Well, I actually cut a check to the football program because I’m a casual friend of Mark Stoops and Eddie Gran,” Pitino said. “I cut a check to the football program, but I would definitely cut a check if Mark needs me for anything, no matter what — except for my firstborn Michael — he could have it.“
Added Pitino: “I absolutely love Mark and would do anything for his program. I always called the University of Kentucky ‘Camelot’ for me. Never had a bad year, never had a bad day. They treated me like a king.“
Pitino left Kentucky to coach the Boston Celtics in 1997. He returned to the college ranks in 2001 after Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum retired and spent the next 16 seasons with Louisville. Pitino left Louisville amid a cloud of controversy in 2017 that involved allegations of “pay for play” recruiting violations.
Pitino returned to the coaching ranks in 2020 when he accepted the head coaching job at Iona. He is currently the head coach at St. John’s, a program with its own unique tradition and history in college basketball.
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