NCAA: Rick Pitino Done With Coaching

 Rick Pitino announced earlier this week that he will not be pursuing a coaching job in either the NCAA or the NBA, officially closing the book on his coaching career. He also released a book  Tuesday “Pitino: My Story” as a cathartic means of closure.

The Legendary coach has had his legacy tarnished by scandals in the NCAA. His Louisville Cardinals were forced to vacate their 2012 National Title and the Pitino was fired in late 2017. This stems from an NBI investigation involving the sporting shoe and apparel brand Adidas allegedly paying $100,000 to the family of five-star prospect Brian Bowen to entice him to commit to Louisville. Pitino has denied any knowledge of the deal and even underwent a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

“I passed (a lie detector test), saying I knew nothing about any money given to anybody. I knew nothing about Adidas doing anything. … Why would someone making a lot of money as a head coach allow those actions to happen? And ruin his program, and ruin his legacy? It lacks common sense for anybody to believe that.”

“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.”

He and his legend were casualties of a broken and corrupt environment in the NCAA. While the association is trying its best to institute lasting changes, there is still a long road ahead to clean up their muddied reputation as one of the most corrupt associations in basketball.