Jump to content

Richard Pitino

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 198.176.219.250 (talk) at 17:17, 1 December 2021 (→Head coaching record). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For his father and Basketball Hall of Fame coach, see Rick Pitino.
Richard Pitino
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamNew Mexico
ConferenceMountain West
Record4–3 (.571)
Biographical details
Born (1982-09-16) September 16, 1982 (age 42)
Boston, Massachusetts
Alma materProvidence
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2005College of Charleston (assistant)
2005–2006Northeastern (assistant)
2006–2007Duquesne (assistant)
2007–2009Louisville (assistant)
2009–2011Florida (assistant)
2011–2012Louisville (associate HC)
2012–2013FIU
2013–2021Minnesota
2021–presentNew Mexico
Head coaching record
Overall163–140 (.538)
Tournaments1–2 (NCAA Division I)
5–0 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NIT (2014)
Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year (2017)

Richard William Pitino (born September 16, 1982) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team.[1] From 2013 to 2021, he was head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team. He is the son of Iona head coach Rick Pitino. After attending St. Sebastian's School in Needham, Massachusetts, Richard Pitino earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Providence College in 2005. During his time at Providence, Pitino was the manager for the Friars men's basketball team under Tim Welsh. For two years, he also served as an assistant basketball coach for Saint Andrew's School in nearby Barrington, Rhode Island.

Assistant coaching career

In 2004-2005, he worked as an administrative assistant under Tom Herrion at the College of Charleston. In 2005, he was hired by coach Ron Everhart to serve as assistant coach at Northeastern University and followed Everhart to Duquesne University the following year. He was hired on at Louisville in October.[2] In his first stint with the Cardinals, he helped them advance to back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances.

He left the University of Louisville and accepted a position to work under Billy Donovan at the University of Florida on April 17, 2009.[3] During his time at Florida, they advanced to two NCAA tournaments including one Elite Eight appearance in 2010.

He left Florida on April 12, 2011, to become the associate head coach at Louisville. In his second stint at the school he helped the Cardinals advance to the NCAA Final Four and finish with a 30-10 overall record.

Head coaching career

FIU

Pitino left his position as the associate head coach at Louisville to become the head coach at FIU on April 15, 2012, replacing Isiah Thomas. [4] With only six players remaining from the previous season, and not all of them on scholarship, Pitino cobbled together a team and coached a high-pressure defense that finished eighth in the nation in steals. He was able to compile an 18-14 record (11-9 in the Sun Belt conference) in his first season as head coach. This was FIU's first winning season since 1999-2000 and most wins overall since 1997-98. His FIU team also had the best conference record in school history. Additionally, FIU reached the Sun Belt Tournament Title game as a four seed, before falling to Western Kentucky in the tournament championship game, 65-63.

Minnesota

On April 3, 2013, despite having only one year of head coaching experience at FIU, Pitino was hired to become the 17th head coach in University of Minnesota history,[5] replacing Tubby Smith.

On April 1, 2014, in Pitino's first season at Minnesota, the Golden Gophers defeated Florida State University 67–64 in overtime in the NIT semifinals, breaking a school record with its 24th win of the season.[6] On April 3, 2014, exactly one year to the date he was hired, Pitino won his first NIT Championship by defeating coach Larry Brown's SMU team 65–63, securing a school record 25th win.[7] The win was the Gophers first NIT championship since 1998 - although that was vacated in 1999 - and their first "official" NIT title since 1993.

Following a historically bad third-year at Minnesota, Coach Pitino orchestrated an impressive turnaround by improving the team's record by 16 wins, utilizing a revamped roster that included five new contributors. The turnaround helped earn Richard Pitino the Big Ten Coach of the Year award on March 6, 2017.[8] This was just the second Big Ten coach of the year award in Minnesota school history, and Minnesota's first since 1982. That season Pitino guided the Gophers to an 11-7 record in the Big Ten, which was Minnesota's most wins in conference in 20 years.

On March 21, 2019, in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, No. 10 Minnesota faced No. 7 seed Louisville, a school he previously helped coach and a program which his father Rick had been head coach of for 16 years. Minnesota defeated the Cardinals 86–76 to move on to the Round of 32. In the Round of 32, the Gophers lost to #2 Michigan State 70-50.

Pitino was fired as head coach after his eighth season by athletic director Mark Coyle, on March 15, 2021, after finishing the season 14–15, 6–14 in the conference. They were the only Big Ten team who went winless on the road, going 0–10 in the regular season.[9]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
FIU Panthers (Sun Belt Conference) (2012–2013)
2012–13 FIU 18–14 11–9 5th (East)
FIU: 18–14 (.563) 11–9 (.550)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference) (2013–2021)
2013–14 Minnesota 25–13 8–10 7th NIT Champion
2014–15 Minnesota 18–15 6–12 T–10th
2015–16 Minnesota 8–23 2–16 13th
2016–17 Minnesota 24–10 11–7 4th NCAA Division I Round of 64
2017–18 Minnesota 15–17 4–14 T–11th
2018–19 Minnesota 22–14 9–11 7th NCAA Division I Round of 32
2019–20 Minnesota 15–16 8–12 12th
2020–21 Minnesota 14–15 6–14 13th
Minnesota: 141–123 (.534) 54–96 (.360)
New Mexico Lobos (Mountain West Conference) (2021–present)
2021–22 New Mexico 5-3
New Mexico: 5–3 (.625) 0–0 (–)
Total: 164–140 (.539)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ @GoodmanHoops (16 March 2021). "BREAKING: New Mexico has hired former Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, sources told @Stadium. Pitino was officiall…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Pitino Announces Three Men's Basketball Staff Revisions :: www.UofLSports.com
  3. ^ "Top Workplaces | The Courier-Journal | Nominate a Workplace".
  4. ^ "Pitino says his son will coach Fla. International". ESPN.com. April 15, 2012.
  5. ^ Sports, Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY. "Minnesota hires Richard Pitino as coach". USA TODAY.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Osenieks surprises, helps Gophers advance to NIT final". Star Tribune.
  7. ^ "SMU vs. Minnesota - Game Recap - April 3, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  8. ^ http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030617aag.html
  9. ^ "Gophers announce they are parting ways with Richard Pitino". Star Tribune.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Pitino&oldid=1058130610"