LEXINGTON, Ky. — While we’re doing our Kentucky reunion, we might as well bring back Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, right? This unavoidable return is apparently now imminent, if only for a day.
Mark Pope, captain of Pitino’s 1996 UK national team, is now the Wildcats’ coach and one of the many loud applause he received from the packed Rupp Arena crowd during his talk Sunday’s introductory press release came after this sentence: “Anyone here ready for a game against St. John’s?”
Pitino, who just completed his first season as St. John’s head coach, responded Monday via social media accepting the invitation.
Wow, I just saw clips from our captain’s press conference. Not shocked, but pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t expect anything less @CoachMarkPope. Also, @StJohnsBBall accept, this year in the United Kingdom, next year in Mecca! Looking forward to saying goodbye to @KentuckyMBB.
-Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) April 15, 2024
“This year in the UK, next year in Mecca!” “” Pitino wrote, referring to New York’s Madison Square Garden as the site of the second leg. Pitino went on to say that he can’t wait to say goodbye to a place he has always called Camelot. Bringing Pitino back to Rupp could bring closure to both the coach and a fan base that has loved and hated him, the latter coming after he left Kentucky for the NBA, only to return to Rupp as coach of rival Louisville.
Does this mean the series is a done deal? Probably, if that’s what Pope wants. He also floated the idea on Sunday of a return to the Maui Invitational, a beloved early-season tournament that John Calipari had refused to play in since 2010.
“If it’s something he wants to do, it’s no problem,” athletic director Mitch Barnhart said. “If it’s something that helps with recruiting, if it’s something he thinks is good for our program, then it’s his program. He must design it. Cal designed it his way, and now Mark is in the chair and he can design it his way. And if it’s something he says, “I want to do,” then we’ll support him and find a solution. »
Bringing his old coach home to heal old wounds and being honored for reviving a nearly dead program in the early 1990s is obviously important to Pope.
“Coach Pitino changed me,” he said Sunday. “And I will tell you that he changed my soul, he changed my DNA as a human being. It has allowed me to be someone who feels like I can walk into any room and take on any impossible task. And I will love him forever. So I say (let’s play) St. John’s because I have so much admiration for him. The best one did it.
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(Photo: Clare Grant / Courier Journal / USA Today)