Ex-Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he'd be vindicated 5 years ago. What's he saying now?
Rick Pitino knew this day would come.
On Oct. 16, 2017, the university fired Pitino as the result of a bribery scandal involving Adidas, assistant coaches Jordan Fair and Kenny Johnson and former player Brian Bowen II. Days later, he told ESPN’s Jay Bilas he would be “vindicated” by the time the federal investigation was over.
On Thursday, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process concluded the five-year case by dealing minor punishments to Louisville, most of which are related to recruiting, and issuing two-year no show-cause penalties against Johnson, now at Rhode Island, and Fair. Pitino, however, received no penalty.
Is that vindication? Pitino, now coaching Iona University, won't publicly declare that.
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“It's really not that important anymore because it's been five years,” Pitino said Thursday during a news conference from Iona, scheduled conveniently after the IARP announced its penalties and minutes after U of L concluded its own news conference.
“As we got to know Coach and review the voluminous record before the panel, it was clear to us that Coach Pitino did not commit a violation,” said Steve Stapleton, who represents Pitino as part of the Clark Hill law firm. “He did nothing wrong. It was our job to make sure the independent panel had all the information before them so they could make an informed decision. And that, they did.”
Pitino led the Cardinals to a national championship in 2013 that was later vacated following a separate scandal involving paid strippers and prostitutes. After being fired, Pitino didn't get another domestic head coaching job until Iona University, located in his home state of New York, hired him as its men’s basketball coach March 14, 2020. In between the two college jobs, he went overseas to coach Panathinaikos, a EuroLeague team based in Greece.
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“My only salvation was the fact that I learned so much about basketball, by coaching in the EuroLeague. When you can learn, at 65, so many different things offensively to make you a better teacher, I was so appreciative of that. Certainly now, being at Iona and coaching here back home is a great thrill for me and my family.”
In his debut 2020-21 season with the Gaels, Pitino and Co. went 12-6, falling to Alabama 68-55 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The next year, the squad posted a 25-8 record and were the No. 6 seed in the NIT but also lost in the first round to Florida, 79-74.
While Stapleton believes the IARP findings prove his client did nothing wrong, vindication is no longer on Pitino’s mind. Neither is getting a higher-profile job, a yearly topic whenever high-profile coaching vacancies open.
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“I know everybody says New Yorkers are moving out. I don't see it,” he said. "I'm part of a great city where I grew up seven streets from Madison Square Garden, where I had the great fortune of coaching the Knicks. Now I'm back home. I love where I live, I love the players I'm coaching. ... It's really about the player. It's not about me, and I'm enjoying coaching the hell out of them.”
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino responds to IARP, NCAA ruling
