Louisville could return to the Pitino bloodline for next HC hire

Tuesday's news comes 11 years after Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino led the Cardinals to a national championship (which was later vacated) in 2013. It's also been nearly six and a half years since the now-St. John's leader was dismissed from Louisville due to his implication in a federal investigation involving recruiting bribes.

The elder Pitino's firing was on the heels of his five-game suspension at the start of the 2017-18 season following the program's escort sex scandal.

The Cardinals are playing a dangerous game in toying with the idea of bringing in another Pitino, who served as one of his father's assistants from 2007-09 and the team's associate head coach from 2011-12.

Since the 71-year-old's exit, Louisville has fallen on hard times, making the NCAA Tournament just once over the last seven seasons.

Kenny Payne was fired following two seasons with the Cardinals, earning just a 12-52 mark.

After he departed from Louisville, Rick Pitino coached in the EuroLeague from 2018-20 and then with Iona from 2020-23, leading them to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. He just finished his first season with St. John's, helping the Red Storm finish 20-13 but failing to qualify for March Madness.

Despite his father's sketchy history, the Cardinals are at least unafraid of potentially bringing in the younger Pitino to help get the program back to its winning ways.

Richard — the 2016-17 Big Ten Coach of the Year with Minnesota — has guided New Mexico to a 61-41 record in his three seasons with the Lobos. The team has improved each season under the 41-year-old's leadership, going 13-19 and 22-12 before finishing 26-10 during the 2023-24 campaign.

New Mexico won the Mountain West Conference Tournament earlier this month to make their first NCAA Tournament in 10 years.

The 11th-seeded Lobos fell to the sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers in the first round on Friday.

According to Jody Demling of 247Sports, Louisville athletic director Josh Heird has "been in contact" with New Mexico's leader "several times over the past few days." Demling further reported that Pitino is a "top candidate" for the gig.