Rick Pitino apparently has no interest in leaving Iona.
Following the firing of Archie Miller at Indiana, I floated Pitino as a possible replacement given his success at Kentucky, Louisville and after leading the Gaels to the tournament in his first year as the team’s coach. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
However, he’s apparently not going anywhere. According to Jaden Daley, he told the media Monday afternoon, “I’m not a candidate for Indiana or any other job. You could come to me with the greatest job in the world, and I would not consider it.”
Rick Pitino: “I’m not a candidate for Indiana or any other job. You could come to me with the greatest job in the world, and I would not consider it.” #ICMBB #iubb
— Jaden Daly (@DalyDoseOfHoops) March 16, 2021
As Jeff Goodman speculated, Pitino’s buyout with Iona must be substantial for him to have that stance.
Translation: Rick Pitino has a HUGE buyout. https://t.co/hffgJFQZON
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 16, 2021
You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t exactly believe Pitino. I don’t believe him at all. Let’s assume his buyout is gigantic and in the range of $10 million.
That’s pure speculation, but it’s about as big as I can imagine for a coach in his situation.
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There’s zero shot in hell that a rich Indiana booster couldn’t step up and take care of that for him. The Hoosiers apparently have a ton of cash.
If they want Pitino, they can figure out any buyout situation and get him away from Iona.
Also, how many times have we heard coaches say they’re going nowhere to only later dip for greener pastures? It happens all the time. Trust me, if Pitino ultimately wants to end up coaching the Hoosiers, there’s nothing that will stop him.
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Now, there’s no guarantee he does or that it will happen, but I’m literally not buying one word of his at this time.