The Louisville basketball head coaching search has been going in so many directions as of late, and the name that has surfaced this morning is someone that all Cardinal fans should know well:
After Scott Drew and Dusty May decided not to come to Louisville, athletic director Josh Heird had put his efforts into candidates like Josh Schertz, Pat Kelsey, and Shaheen Holloway. However, last night and this morning Richard Pitino has gained some serious traction.
Jeff Goodman from the Field of 68 was the first to report the news, but soon after that some local Louisville media began to report it as well.
New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino, the son of former Louisville coach Rick Pitino, has emerged as a legit candidate to replace Kenny Payne, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 26, 2024
STORY: New Mexico coach Richard Pitino has emerged as a top candidate for the Louisville job.@247Sports @TravisBranham_ @ebosshoops https://t.co/QJnfA17lUW
— Jody Demling (@jdemling) March 26, 2024
Pitino is the son of former Louisville head coach and 2x national champion Rick Pitino. Cardinal fans have been dying to get back to the era of final four runs during the Pitino era, and while Richard may not have the resume that his father had when he was hired at UofL, Pitino would have a lot of leverage over guys like Kelsey and Schertz.
Pitino spent 8 years as the head coach at Minnesota and the past 3 seasons at New Mexico. Pitino has only made the NCAA Tournament 3 times in his 12 seasons as a head coach, but with a much better job he may be able to really succeed at Louisville. Pitino also only being 41 years old could be the legacy hire that could be here for the next 20-25 years.
With the news coming out that Josh Schertz is likely going to coach at Saint Louis, Richard Pitino will likely become the new frontrunner for Louisville basketball.
Of course, there may be an entirely new candidate come tomorrow morning since that seems to be the norm for this coaching search.