{"id":17928,"date":"2020-11-17T15:48:14","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T21:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=17928"},"modified":"2020-11-17T15:48:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T21:48:14","slug":"rick-pitino-returns-to-college-basketball-as-the-new-head-coach-at-iona-per-a-school-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=17928","title":{"rendered":"Rick Pitino Returns to College Basketball As the New Head Coach at Iona, Per a School Announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"gnt_ar_hl\">Men&#8217;s basketball: Rick Pitino makes his comeback at Iona College<\/h1>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>If the perception exists that he was desperate to return to college basketball, Rick Pitino has been quick to deny it. Pitino actually insists he was more eager to return to the NBA than college, but in tiny Iona College, a mid-major Catholic school in Westchester County, N.Y.,\u00a0he found major appeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Now 68, it appears Pitino hasn&#8217;t set a timeline for how long he will coach the Gaels, but he has been steadfast in one prediction: The job will be his last.<\/strong><\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"~ad-slot-7103-ny-westchester-C1084-native-article_link-sports-college-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\">\n<p><strong>Pitino comes to Iona with multiple national championships under his belt. He captured his first title in 1996 at the University of Kentucky. The second came with Louisville in 2013, though that was later vacated by the NCAA for an entirely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/story\/_\/id\/22514073\/louisville-cardinals-vacated-national-championship-fall-grace-come-back-former-coach-rick-pitino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">different scandal involving strippers and sex parties<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>To say that his career has been marked by controversy would be a vast understatement. Still, Pitino&#8217;s biggest regret has nothing to do with the strippers, scandals, or controversy:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\" xml:lang=\"en\"><strong>Rick Pitino: &#8220;My biggest regret in coaching was leaving Providence College. They were two magical years in my life. It was a small Catholic school with a small gym I loved so much. I&#8217;m going back to a similar situation. I know I&#8217;ll love it equally the same.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>In addition to his time at the collegiate level, Pitino spent time in the NBA as he was the Knicks head coach in the late 80&#8217;s and more recently was with the Celtics from 1997 until 2001. His career NBA winning percentage is\u00a0less than .500, which is a far cry from what he&#8217;s done as a college coach.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Following his departure from Louisville, Pitino headed to Greece where he took over and led Panathinaikos to the Greek Cup and Greek League Basketball Championship in 2019. He&#8217;ll now look to lead the Gaels in New Rochelle, New York.<\/strong><\/p>\n<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><strong>Rick Pitino Sends Clear Message To College Basketball World<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"featured-image\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured size-featured wp-post-image lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/GettyImages-165128742-775x465.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/GettyImages-165128742-775x465.jpg 775w, https:\/\/thespun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/GettyImages-165128742-380x228.jpg 380w\" alt=\"College basketball coach Rick Pitino answers questions from reporters.\" width=\"775\" height=\"465\" data-ll-status=\"loaded\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"featured-image\"><strong>The 2020-21 College Basketball season is less than two weeks away, but there is already plenty of turmoil. The United States is currently experiencing a massive COVID-19 outbreak in virtually every state. Rick Pitino, who is back in the sport this year <a href=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/acc\/louisville\/rick-pitino-telling-people-he-will-return-to-college-hoops\">as the head coach at Iona<\/a>, is very concerned about the current plan by the NCAA.<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>Back in September, ACC coaches proposed a pretty bold change to the season, calling for an <a href=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/acc\/ncaa-tournament-proposal-acc-coaches-all-inclusive-every-team\">all-encompassing NCAA Tournament with every single Division I team<\/a>. That would allow the NCAA to establish bubbles to work through the season, rather than try to have teams hosting numerous games on campus and traveling across their conference footprints all winter. Pitino <a href=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/acc\/rick-pitino-reacts-to-proposal-for-2021-ncaa-tournament\">supported the idea initially<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/college-hoops\/rick-pitino-will-be-nearly-impossible-to-survive-2020-21-cbb-season\">brought it back up on Friday<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe NCAA basketball committee going to wish they listened to the ACC proposal to have an open NCAA tournament,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPitino\/status\/1327271924507029504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1327271924507029504%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthespun.com%2Fcollege-hoops%2Frick-pitino-will-be-nearly-impossible-to-survive-2020-21-cbb-season\">Pitino tweeted<\/a> on Friday. \u201cProtocol makes this basketball season nearly impossible to survive.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Today, he is back on the platform, calling for reform to the schedule, which currently has the season starting on Nov. 25. \u201cSave the season,\u201d he said. \u201cMove the start back. Play league schedule and have May Madness. Spiking and protocols make it impossible to play right now.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"mai-aec mai-aec-entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div id=\"paragraph-3-ad\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1469714874611-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><strong>Save the Season. Move the start back. Play league schedule and have May Madness. Spiking and protocols make it impossible to play right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014 Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPitino\/status\/1327635809441370116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 14, 2020<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>We\u2019ve already seen how bad things have gotten with college football this week. We\u2019ve had over 60 games canceled or postponed already this week, with 15 getting the axe just this week. The SEC and Pac-12 have been the most negatively impacted this week, showing that this is a true nationwide problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>College basketball teams are smaller, which helps, but there are more frequent games and travel which causes issues. Rick Pitino is right to fear that this season may not work as currently constituted, and considering the NCAA had over eight months to figure out a workable solution, it is pretty disheartening that we\u2019ve gotten little effective leadership on this issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Right now, there is no downturn in sight for the virus, and we\u2019re probably not going to be able to rely on a vaccine being available enough to just eliminate this over the next few months. We know teams will do their best, but there\u2019s only so much that you can prevent with how prevalent this is right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PITINO HAS A POINT!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>WHO IS RICK POTINO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Richard Andrew Pitino is an American professional <a title=\"Basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Basketball\">basketball<\/a> coach who is the current head coach for <a title=\"Iona Gaels men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Iona_Gaels_men%27s_basketball\">Iona College<\/a>. He is also the head coach of <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Greece national basketball team\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greece_national_basketball_team\">Greece&#8217;s senior national team<\/a>. He has been the head coach of several teams in <a title=\"NCAA Division I\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NCAA_Division_I\">NCAA Division I<\/a> and in the <a title=\"National Basketball Association\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Basketball_Association\">NBA<\/a>, including <a title=\"Boston University Terriers men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boston_University_Terriers_men%27s_basketball\">Boston University<\/a> (1978\u20131983), <a title=\"Providence Friars men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Providence_Friars_men%27s_basketball\">Providence College<\/a> (1985\u20131987), the <a title=\"New York Knicks\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_York_Knicks\">New York Knicks<\/a> (1987\u20131989), the <a title=\"Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kentucky_Wildcats_men%27s_basketball\">University of Kentucky<\/a> (1989\u20131997), the <a title=\"Boston Celtics\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boston_Celtics\">Boston Celtics<\/a> (1997\u20132001) and the <a title=\"Louisville Cardinals men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louisville_Cardinals_men%27s_basketball\">University of Louisville<\/a> (2001\u20132017), and <a title=\"Panathinaikos B.C.\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Panathinaikos_B.C.\">Panathinaikos<\/a> of the <a title=\"Greek Basket League\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greek_Basket_League\">Greek Basket League<\/a> and <a title=\"EuroLeague\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/EuroLeague\">EuroLeague<\/a> (2018\u20132020).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pitino led Kentucky to an <a title=\"NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">NCAA championship<\/a> in <a title=\"1996 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1996_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">1996<\/a>. He is the only coach to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to a Final Four.<sup id=\"cite_ref-hoophall_5-0\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> In 2013, he was elected to the <a title=\"List of coaches in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_coaches_in_the_Naismith_Memorial_Basketball_Hall_of_Fame\">Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<table class=\"infobox vcard\">\n<caption class=\"fn summary\"><strong>Rick Pitino<\/strong><\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><strong><a class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Rick_Pitino,_2013_Final_Four.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/37\/Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg\/220px-Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg\" srcset=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/37\/Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg\/330px-Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg 1.5x, \/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/37\/Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg\/440px-Rick_Pitino%2C_2013_Final_Four.jpg 2x\" alt=\"Rick Pitino, 2013 Final Four.jpg\" width=\"220\" height=\"146\" data-file-width=\"2048\" data-file-height=\"1363\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div><strong>Pitino in a press conference for the <a title=\"2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2013_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">2013 Final Four<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>Iona Gaels<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Position<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"role\"><strong><a title=\"Coach (basketball)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Coach_(basketball)\">Head coach<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>League<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Metro_Atlantic_Athletic_Conference\">Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>Personal information<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Born<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>September 18, 1952<span class=\"noprint ForceAgeToShow\"> (age\u00a068)<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"New York City, New York\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_York_City,_New_York\">New York City, New York<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Nationality<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>American<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Listed height<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>6\u00a0ft 0\u00a0in (1.83\u00a0m)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Listed weight<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>165<sup id=\"cite_ref-1\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rick_Pitino#cite_note-1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0lb (75\u00a0kg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>Career information<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>High school<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"plainlist\"><strong><a title=\"St. Dominic High School (Oyster Bay, New York)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/St._Dominic_High_School_(Oyster_Bay,_New_York)\">St. Dominic<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>(<a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Oyster Bay, New York\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oyster_Bay,_New_York\">Oyster Bay, New York<\/a>)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>College<\/strong><\/th>\n<td class=\"plainlist\"><strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"UMass Minutemen men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/UMass_Minutemen_men%27s_basketball\">UMass<\/a> (1971\u20131974)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Position<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Point guard\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Point_guard\">Point guard<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Number<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>22<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>Coaching career<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>1974\u2013present<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>Career history<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>As coach:<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1974\u20131976<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hawaii_Rainbow_Warriors_basketball\">Hawaii<\/a> (assistant)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1976<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>Hawaii (interim HC)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1976\u20131978<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Syracuse Orange men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Syracuse_Orange_men%27s_basketball\">Syracuse<\/a> (assistant)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1978\u20131983<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Boston University Terriers men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boston_University_Terriers_men%27s_basketball\">Boston University<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1983\u20131985<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"New York Knicks\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_York_Knicks\">New York Knicks<\/a> (assistant)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1985\u20131987<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Providence Friars men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Providence_Friars_men%27s_basketball\">Providence<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1987\u20131989<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong>New York Knicks<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1989\u20131997<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kentucky_Wildcats_men%27s_basketball\">Kentucky<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>1997\u20132001<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Boston Celtics\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boston_Celtics\">Boston Celtics<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>2001\u20132017<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Louisville Cardinals men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louisville_Cardinals_men%27s_basketball\">Louisville<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>2018\u20132020<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Panathinaikos B.C.\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Panathinaikos_B.C.\">Panathinaikos<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\"><strong>2020\u2013present<\/strong><\/th>\n<td><strong><a title=\"Iona Gaels men's basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Iona_Gaels_men%27s_basketball\">Iona<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>Career highlights and awards<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><strong>As head coach:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a title=\"NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">NCAA Tournament champion<\/a> (<a title=\"1996 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1996_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">1996<\/a>, <a title=\"2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2013_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">2013<\/a>*)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Final_Four_appearances_by_coach\">NCAA Regional champion \u2013 Final Four<\/a> (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Athletic_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">AAC Tournament champion<\/a> (<a title=\"2014 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2014_American_Athletic_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">2014<\/a>*)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"American Athletic Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Athletic_Conference\">AAC<\/a> regular season champion (2014*)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Big East Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Big_East_Conference\">Big East<\/a> regular season champion (2009, 2013*)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Big East Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Big_East_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">Big East Tournament champion<\/a> (2009, 2012, 2013)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2\u00d7 <a title=\"Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conference_USA_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">C-USA Tournament champion<\/a> (2003, 2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Conference USA\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conference_USA\">C-USA<\/a> regular season champion (2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>5\u00d7 <a title=\"SEC Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SEC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">SEC Tournament champion<\/a> (<a title=\"1992 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1992_SEC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">1992<\/a>\u2013<a title=\"1995 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1995_SEC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">1995<\/a>, <a title=\"1997 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1997_SEC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">1997<\/a>)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2\u00d7 <a title=\"Southeastern Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Southeastern_Conference\">SEC<\/a> regular season champion (1995, 1996)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"America East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/America_East_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament\">America East Tournament champion<\/a> (1983)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2\u00d7 <a title=\"America East Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/America_East_Conference\">America East<\/a> regular season champion (1980, 1983)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Adolph Rupp Cup\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Adolph_Rupp_Cup\">Adolph Rupp Cup<\/a> (2009)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>C-USA Coach of the Year (2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>3\u00d7 SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1996)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>John Wooden National Coach of the Year (1987)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"NABC Coach of the Year\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NABC_Coach_of_the_Year\">NABC Coach of the Year<\/a> (1987)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2\u00d7 <a title=\"Greek Basket League\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greek_Basket_League\">Greek League<\/a> champion (<a title=\"2018\u201319 Greek Basket League\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2018%E2%80%9319_Greek_Basket_League\">2019<\/a>, <a title=\"2019\u201320 Greek Basket League\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2019%E2%80%9320_Greek_Basket_League\">2020<\/a>)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Greek Basketball Cup\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greek_Basketball_Cup\">Greek Cup<\/a> winner (<a title=\"2018\u201319 Greek Basketball Cup\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2018%E2%80%9319_Greek_Basketball_Cup\">2019<\/a>)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Italian_American_Sports_Hall_of_Fame\">National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame<\/a> (1999)<sup id=\"cite_ref-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><strong><a class=\"external text\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hoophall.com\/hall-of-famers\/rick-pitino\" rel=\"nofollow\">Basketball Hall of Fame as coach<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"mai-aec mai-aec-after-entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1469714874611-7\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"taboola-below-article-thumbnails\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Men&#8217;s basketball: Rick Pitino makes his comeback at Iona College If the perception exists that he was desperate to return to college basketball, Rick Pitino has been quick to deny it. Pitino actually insists he was more eager to return to the NBA than college, but in tiny Iona College, a mid-major Catholic school in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[330,11,8,1314,1456,1156,2416,72,14,106,104,187,1,7,9,10],"tags":[3320,1667,1364,1681,3319,3321,1405,3318,1417,3317,1288,3316,3314,3315,3313,3322,3312],"class_list":["post-17928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball-sports","category-business","category-entertainment","category-global-business-entrepreneurs","category-global-news-updates-and-more","category-global-sports","category-hall-of-fame","category-horse-racing","category-most-commented","category-nba-sports-news","category-ncaa","category-ncaa-basketball","category-news","category-sports","category-us","category-world","tag-1983-adolph-rupp-cup-2009-c-usa-coach-of-the-year-2005-3x-sec-coach-of-the-year-1990","tag-1667","tag-1364","tag-1681","tag-1996-america-east-tournament-champion-1983-2x-america-east-regular-season-champion-1980","tag-1996-john-wooden-national-coach-of-the-year-1987-nabc-coach-of-the-year-1987-2x-greek-league-champion-2019","tag-1405","tag-1997-2x-sec-regular-season-champion-1995","tag-1417","tag-2005-c-usa-regular-season-champion-2005-5x-sec-tournament-champion-1992-1995","tag-1288","tag-2013-2x-c-usa-tournament-champion-2003","tag-2013-aac-tournament-champion-2014-aac-regular-season-champion-2014-big-east-regular-season-champion-2009","tag-2013-big-east-tournament-champion-2009","tag-2013-ncaa-regional-champion-final-four-1987","tag-2020-greek-cup-winner-2019-national-italian-american-sports-hall-of-fame-1999","tag-career-highlights-and-awards-as-head-coach-ncaa-tournament-champion-1996","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}