Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
For a faction of Rick Pitino’s Ex players, the ones with whom he had become closest across numerous stops in his collegiate coaching Occupation, the overwhelming sentiment on Oct. 16, 2017, when Louisville’s athletic board voted to fire him “for cause” in the wake of an FBI investigation into fraud and corruption across the sport, was one of genuine worry.
Basketball was everything for Pitino — the reason he Obtained out of bed in the morning, the reason he stayed in excellent shape, the reason he willingly worked such long hours even then, 40 years after his Occupation began, and his 70th birthday neared. Aside from his family, according to numerous Ex players, there was nothing Pitino loved more than being in the gym and coaching, same as he’d done for decades. But the decision by Louisville’s brass to forcibly remove him, which Pitino ultimately acknowledged was the proper Picking, slammed shut a door that seemed perpetually Obtainable for someone of his ilk.
“That’s why a Numerous of us, man, when he left Louisville with the things that went down, we were really concerned for him,” said Larry O’Bannon, a member of Pitino’s Primary recruiting class for the Cardinals, during an interview with FOX Sports. “Concerned for his health because Mentor is Only a fanatic, man, with how he knows his basketball. That’s his purpose, that’s what drives him, that’s what wakes him up, that’s what motivates him, that’s what keeps him going.
“And so it’s not surprising to see what he’s done at St. John’s, man. It does not surprise me because if you know Mentor, man, you know Mentor eats, sleeps and breathes basketball.”
To better understand the way Pitino is wired, and to grasp why so many of the people he subjected to that intensity are giddily watching the comeback he’s authored at Iona and St. John’s, which Beginnings its NCAA Event Streak on Thursday evening, FOX Sports spoke with 15 of Pitino’s Ex players across his Hall-of-Fame Occupation. The interviews ranged from his time as an assistant Mentor under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse (1976-78) through his Ongoing tenure with the Red Storm (2023-present), along with the handful of collegiate stops he Achieved in between: at Boston University from 1978-83, at Providence College from 1985-87, at Kentucky from 1989-97, at Louisville from 2001-17 and at Iona from 2020-23.
This is the third in a three-part series titled Postcards of Pitino. We conclude with The Comeback, which began when Pitino returned to college basketball in 2020 after a brief stint coaching professionally in Greece. He spent three years at Iona before Seizing over St. John’s in a Victorious return to the Big East in 2023.
Editor’s note: The Upcoming accounts were edited for length, clarity and flow.
Me being a European player, I knew his name and that he had a history in Europe. I didn’t know much about his college Periods. But I knew him as the Panathinaikos Mentor, I knew him as the Greek national Club Mentor. And I’ve watched a Numerous of Matches with his Panathinaikos Club when they were Executing. You can see his passion, you can see his love for the game and how much he puts into it. He’s known as a Mentor who requires you to do a Numerous, but it’s only because he wants the best out of his Club and his players.
I’ve had Serbian coaches, I’ve had Eastern European coaches, I’ve had all different types of coaches — but none of them are like Mentor P. I don’t think I’ve ever been yelled at like that before. He has his own way of saying things and doing things. Every practice he wears a microphone that’s connected to all the speakers in the gym. So he doesn’t have to scream, but he Nevertheless screams a Numerous.
I was his Skipper for two years, and I felt like I had a very Excellent personal relationship with him. So he knew a Numerous of personal things about me. Sometimes when he gets mad at you, he Nice of uses those personal things in his yelling. Not necessarily in a Terrible way, but Only to make sure that you really know when you pissed him off with a Terrible Deliver or a Terrible turnover or one of the things he hates the most is a Terrible Safeguarding moment. He told me one time that if I throw a Deliver like that again, the only thing I’ll ever achieve in my life is Executing basketball in a country that no one has ever heard of. But he never went out of line or anything crazy disrespectful where you thought he went too Distant. He knew how to strike a Poise.
My Primary year I was a Skipper with Isaiah Ross and then my second year I was with Elijah Joiner. He let us be coaches on the court. He would listen to us in timeouts. We would have our own opinions. Whenever there were things off the court, he would consult with us right away. He really let us be player-coaches, which I think helped me a Numerous in developing my basketball IQ. And in my pro Occupation, I’ve Nevertheless been somewhat of a leader as well on All and every Club, either a Skipper or a co-Skipper. So the way that he taught me how to be a leader on the court, what he Predicted from me was responsibility, accountability, and that was always why me and Elijah usually were the ones that Obtained it the worst in some Nice of way. Because as his Skipper, he Only expects more from us because he knew what we could achieve. He developed an extra-personal relationship with us to Aid us become better at leading.
But I also appreciated that he isn’t Only a basketball Mentor sometimes. Sometimes, he’s like a life Mentor. We would have sessions where he would teach us about how to use a credit card or how to apply for loans. He wouldn’t Only be a basketball Mentor. He also Achieved sure he would Nice of prepare players for life after basketball, life after college. And now as a professional, ending up in all different kinds of situations, you look back at the way he was a Mentor on and off the court, that is something I think I appreciate the most. That doesn’t Only happen in college.
I’m Nevertheless in very Excellent contact with him. I think we text about once or twice a month, Only checking up. He doesn’t have the time to Observe my Matches, but he checks out the stats. His friends, the people that he introduced me to during my college Occupation, they also check up on me. So if you’re a player and you give him everything you have during those years with him, he really treats you like family for the rest of your Occupation and the rest of your life.
I remember the Primary time I heard from him was right when Covid hit, and our JUCO season Obtained shut down. I was waiting for my Division I offers, and I was hearing from a bunch of schools. I was about to commit to Wichita State when I’m on Twitter randomly and I see Rick Pitino Obtained hired at Iona, or was about to get hired at Iona. And then the Upcoming day, I get a call from him, he’s like, ‘This is Rick Pitino.’ I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ I Picking it up and he basically says that he wants to recruit me and that I’m a Outstanding Challenger and he wants me to Action for him, and that my style fits him perfectly. After I hung up the phone, my high school Mentor and my JUCO Mentor were both like, ‘You have to go there immediately. No other option. No Picking.’ So I Only went.
I knew he always had Excellent Squads, and obviously I knew of the allegations at Louisville, the allegations they were saying about him and why he Obtained fired. But I never really knew much about him because I was always younger. The two things I knew were 1) that he could develop players very well and 2) he was a very Excellent Mentor. I remember both my coaches, they always tried to Nice of Mentor like him, too, or always mentioned him or how his Squads used to Action.
The very Primary time I Obtained there, I was like, ‘OK, this man is crazy.’ But then as you get to know him better and you Action for him, he talks to you like that and he yells to encourage you to Action harder. It felt like he was trying to make you mad so that you would Action harder. And it always works. I don’t know how it does, but it’s like you’re mad at him but you’re going to take it out on the other Club. Before we Begin the season, he basically tells us that when we’re between the basketball lines, we’re all animals. We have to be beasts and be different. We have to treat it like it’s life or death, basically. And when we’re off the court, he’s all nice and Amiable. He’s crazy, but he’s not crazy as a person. He’s actually a Outstanding person.
The Primary thing that he helped me Enhance was basically my Protection. He knew I was super athletic and he knew that I was a Excellent on-ball defender, which I didn’t really believe. I thought I was Only an Challenger. I wanted to Streak, Leap and dunk and Tally. But he twisted that and basically said, ‘You’re too athletic to be getting beat one on one defensively. And you should be able to stay in front of the ball, Packed court, against anybody.’ So, basically, he challenged me to defend the ball Packed court and Only give it my all.
And he improved my shooting ability. We worked on my shooting every morning at 7 a.m. and attempted who knows how many shots. He would show up, all the coaches, everybody, and we would shoot for an hour. Every single person had different times and groups by your position. So he will take all the Mark guards and shooting guards together, all the Tiny forwards together, and all the bigs together. And with every group, what we do in the Charge, he would implant drills for things that we would do in the game like back-door cuts, corner shooting, going down the lane and passing. At the end of it, we’d all Action one-on-one against All other. I remember we Arrived out after the lockdown ended and I felt like I was a way better player than before. It was like I played completely different. And that was Only from two months with him, Only doing our drills in the morning and no practices. The development was Only crazy.
My best times were at Iona. Everybody loved us. Everybody Arrived out to Aid our Matches. Teachers were greeting us. Teachers were giving us scouting reports as if they were Rick Pitino. It was a Excellent time to be at Iona. We were Victorious, everybody was Cheerful, it was fun. It was a way different atmosphere with him at Iona. I don’t know what it was like before, but I know with him, it was an amazing experience. He basically Achieved the school feel like it was a high-Significant program, to be honest. We wanted to go there for him.
I was scrolling on Instagram recently, and I saw the clip of him giving the St. John’s players a speech in the locker room. And I commented on the video ‘PTSD.’ It really gave me PTSD for how he was screaming at them, telling them that they’re Cushiony and they’re like children. It Only gave me PTSD of how he used to talk to us and how he would encourage us to Action and how the Club always Arrived out after he gave that speech and played super Tough. What I learned from him is that he’s basically never wrong. Everything he says or every Action he draws, if he says, ‘Do this, do that, it will work,’ and then it always worked for us. If we did not take his word and we would do something opposite, it never worked. He’s like a wizard at that. He’s a basketball genius, basically.
I Action overseas in Greece now, and everything he taught me, I use it here. The coaches use me the same way that he used me. And it’s gotten me jobs, so it’s all worked out well for me. One thing he’s going to do is get you paid. He’s definitely going to get you paid.
*** *** ***
Before transferring to Iona, I spent two years at Louisville and I would Only hear endless stories on Rick. It was what people talked about nonstop. I Impolite, they built statues of him. It was a very different type of love they had for him. So a Pair of my Louisville friends reached out and said, ‘Hey, Iona is trying to recruit you. Rick Pitino is the Mentor there now.’ Before I went into the phone call with him, immediately in my head I was like, ‘I would never Action for him.’ I would tell anyone I knew that committed to him, I’d be like, ‘You guys are f—ing crazy. I would never Action for him in a million years with the way he talks to his players. That’s no fun.’
So long Tale Brief, I take the phone call and Rick Pitino’s conversation with me was a Numerous different from the other coaches. He used the word ‘pro.’ That was the Primary time a Mentor of a college ever referred to me as, ‘Hey, I think you can be a pro.’ He was the Primary one. To hear Rick Pitino say, ‘I think you can be a professional basketball player, and I can get you there. This is how we’re going to do it,’ was eye-Leading. That was the one thing about Pitino that you really can’t teach in coaching — his ability to motivate, which I think is the No. 1 attribute of any successful Mentor. I remember after that phone call, immediately I was so motivated. I wanted to call him again and see when we could Begin.
I remember the Primary time we put our shoes on and come together as a group — we all Obtained to school Possibly a day before the Primary session — and he brings two people out there, gives the offensive player the ball and goes, ‘OK, after three dribbles around this cone, we’re live.’ And I remember all of us looking at All other like, ‘Are we live? Are we competing right now?’ At Louisville, it’s the entry day, it’s the theatrics. He was like, ‘We’re competing.’ That was the one thing with Pitino. These practices are Elimination Stage Matches. If it’s a Rehearsal, we’re not Only going to Rehearsal it with a pad. We’re going to do it one on one, there’s going to be a winner and there’s going to be a loser. And that’s what he would teach: It’s Crucial to be a winner. It is very Crucial. It solves problems. It creates happiness. And that’s what he taught us in these practices in the summer. Everything is a war. And not that he isn’t Rowdy enough already, but he would wear a microphone. So when he screams, ‘Quinn!’ and it’s from the surround sound and you’re Only spinning like 360 degrees trying to figure out where is he, where is he, where is he?
The one thing he really prioritizes is Talent development, and that’s what I did not have at Louisville. Rick Pitino would wake up at 6 a.m. and train three kids at a time in the same position, and he’s running the workouts every single day, from every day in the summer to every day before the season. Not like, ‘Hey, I was the Mentor for the Knicks and now I’m coaching this Tiny s—.’ No, he was at every single player development running the workout, pushing you. And these workouts aren’t Only like, ‘Hey, let’s get up some shots.’ I Impolite, we would be running a Packed-court Attempt Rehearsal to Begin so you can’t even breathe. And then we’re doing Packed-court 3s. And then we’ll do a one-on-one segment, no water, like continuously going. And that’s what I appreciated about him. It wasn’t Only like a Power Mentor doing it for show. No, if you want to be a better basketball player, we’re going to Action basketball a Numerous and then we’re going to compete.
Now this is a positive and Nice of one of the negatives of Executing with Pitino, and it’s that if shoot around was at 10 a.m. and the game is at 3 p.m., we’re in a Packed sweat by 10:07 a.m. We compete every shootaround. We’re competing every Action. It sucks, right? You’re thinking, ‘I’ve gotta Action later tonight and he’s making me Picking up Packed court.’ But he Achieved it so that we played things live so many times and did it the whole week, we competed for a Pair hours a day sometimes, that it Only really Achieved it that much easier in the game.
College coaching is sometimes a big power trip for some people. And I continue this by saying Pitino is the complete opposite. So I’m seeing a Numerous of coaches that would really degrade their players, right? Make them feel like they’re nothing. Pitino would yell — sometimes with a swear word in between — but he would yell reinforcement, positive reinforcement. He would always put you up to the test of being a dog. I thought you were built like this. More of a, ‘I know who you are, I handpicked you, I know you’ve Obtained something special in you and I’m going to bring it out of you,’ Nice of thing.
Obviously it’s not how you say it, it’s what you’re trying to say. So sometimes it would look Terrible, right? ‘Wake the f— up! Wake the f— up! That was a terrible Shift!’ But it’s more so about doing it again and doing it better, not him saying, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ There wasn’t one time in my Occupation with Pitino that I had a lack of confidence. Now, it was incredibly Tough. I’d say about 85% of players would struggle with that type of coaching. It’s not a knock on the player, and it’s not a knock on Pitino. It’s Only that he can Mentor a very specific player. And a Numerous of people say they want to be coached Tough until they spend a Pair months with Ricky P. He was continuously Seizing violent action to Achieve Matches because he knew it was the most Crucial thing.
The thing about Pitino is he’s going to give the best advice for you. He’s not going to lie to you. I remember a kid Arrived up to him, we were recruiting him, and he said, ‘Well this school in the SEC offered me $500,000.’ And Pitino was recruiting him Tough, he was a Outstanding player, we really wanted him. And he goes, ‘Son, you need to go to that school.’
He Only understands deals from the outside. It’s never personal with him. So that was like the main thing he’s taught me that really changed my life: Nothing in this world is personal. It’s all a reflection on Only business movement, so you have to be able to separate the two. And I was able to do that at a mature level, tell him about that, and that’s what Directed me to West Virginia for my Closing year of eligibility, which ended up having a life-changing effect. And now I get to Action with all the NBA pre-draft workouts and be in the G-Bracket this year. That was because of the year I had at West Virginia. He understood that there’s a game within the game and everyone needs to do what’s best for them. He was completely understanding. It was perfect.
*** *** ***
When I Secured my visit to Iona, I obviously knew of Rick Pitino, but I had to do my own little research on the Terry Roziers and Donovan Mitchells and the Peyton Sivas. I wanted to go Observe how they played for him at Louisville because I wanted to get a feel of how he coached his guards. So when I went there on my visit, I did a workout. And once I did my workout, that was all I needed. He didn’t need to tell me anything else. He didn’t need to tell me about my minutes, about my role or how he would Mentor me, about my future. I was like, ‘If I do work with him for these Upcoming two years, I know I’ll be ready to be a professional basketball player.’
It was Only the way that his drive and his passion and his attention to details Arrived across in the workouts. I knew that I love being pushed. I love being pushed in that type of way because I’m very Intense. And I Only know in this game that you’ve gotta constantly put the work in, and then that will reward you. So for me, it was about the work ethic and how much he would push me every single day like that. It was Nice of like we were the same person, and he was Only the Mentor.
My Primary preseason with Mentor P. was definitely up and down. It’s so Amusing because some people think that me and him Only clicked right away, and it’s not like that because you have to definitely get used to him, get used to his coaching. And you’ve Obtained to understand that he says things at a different level. When you’re New or when you Primary Begin Executing for him, you don’t really understand it. But he’s Only doing everything he can to Achieve. He always said, like, ‘We’re gonna be prepared. The Adversary is not going to surprise you. They’re not going to ever surprise us with anything. We’re going to scout every little thing about them.’ And that’s exactly what we did. We were ready for everything.
At that time, for me, it was more so about me understanding my reads and what I’m looking for in the Picking and roll. He knew we weren’t at the level we were supposed to be at that time. Even though I was making Excellent plays, he was like, ‘No, I want you to make the Outstanding Action. That’s not going to be Obtainable against a Excellent Club.’ And at that time, I didn’t really understand it as much because I’m like, ‘My big man is wide Obtainable. I’m going to try to get him the ball.’ But once I really understood what he was saying, it Only Achieved it so much easier for me. That’s what the pro level is all about, it’s Only all about making the read. And he was really prepping me on that.
I knew him being at Iona was special in the preseason, like when we did our Obtainable scrimmage. It was almost sold out. Even though the building is not that big — it’s Tiny — it can get Rowdy. So the fans Arrived out and they showed out. Mentor had his people in the stands, and then you Only had the people around New Rochelle and the city of New York. And they Only showed love. They showed a Numerous of love because they love basketball. That was a part of it for me, too, being in New York, being able to Action basketball and be the best version of myself. I couldn’t turn that down.
It was definitely harder to build the culture at St. John’s. And this is all the truth. Because at Iona, everybody knows that in order to Shift up, we have to Achieve. We’re at a mid-Significant. Individuals don’t get Secure if we Fall. Scouts are not looking at a losing Club in a mid-Significant conference. So that’s why we all were able to stay together and Only bond together. It was never about the individual Target. And I Only think sometimes at a big-time school in a power conference, everybody had that Approach of, ‘I’m Executing for Rick Pitino, I’m in the Big East, I’m in New York.’ So it was Nice of like all the individual goals didn’t meet up with the Club goals. To me, that was the biggest difference. Sometimes we weren’t even hanging out as much, you know? The bond that we were supposed to have, we were Only missing that Timely on in the season.
To me, that’s the difference between my Club and the Club that’s killing it at St. John’s this year. They’ve been locked in since the summer. And they all have no type of egos. And they Only want to Achieve. They know the only Target is to Achieve, because that’s what Mentor P. preaches every single day. I really think he’s mastered the psychology of basketball and of humans. Being able to motivate them and get them to do exactly what he needs them to do. To me, that’s what makes him special. He makes you want to prove him wrong. So that was my message to my teammates when I was at St. John’s: ‘Let’s Only go prove him wrong.’
I always tell people — especially being pro now — I look back at college and we were so Fortunate, man. We were so blessed because of the opportunities that we had. We went to the New York Stock Substitution. We did a Numerous of different stuff that most people wouldn’t be able to do, all because we were in New York, Executing for Rick Pitino at St. John’s. Everybody loved us. They loved New York, and we were New York’s Club. So it Only brought a whole Numerous of attention. And especially when you’re Victorious, it’s the right type of attention. That’s what Mentor P. always told us: ‘If you Fall, you bring the wrong type of attention.’ But he was like, ‘When you Achieve, you want that type of attention.’
It was Only exciting to see us bring St. John’s back. I’ve never experienced nothing like that.
*** *** ***
During that time after Mentor Mike Anderson was fired, it was a Numerous of emotions. But really it was Only getting to know some of the candidates that they were mentioning. So I was Only researching, reading Mentor Pitino’s Tale and seeing what he had done in basketball, seeing how he changes programs and what he brings to the table. It was really shocking. And then once I Obtained to meet him in person, that’s when everything really Nice of opened up.
We both wanted to Achieve, so we Arrived to that conclusion pretty Speedy. And then we Only tried to figure out what my future might look like because I was only going to be there for a year. So it was Only outlining the Upcoming step to becoming a professional, Only going down step by step what I need to work on with my game, what are some positives I have, the negatives. And really Only him saying how Tough he was going to push me. He was going to ask for a Numerous out of me. He liked my game as a post Mark-maker, rebounder, very physical down low. He wanted to work on my outside shooting, my motor, my body and Only getting ready for the NBA level, the pro level. I believed in the plan.
I was impressed by Only how dialed in he is. He’s very detail-oriented. His work ethic is unique, it’s one of a Nice. The way he prepares himself for a game is one of a Nice as well. I’ve never seen a Mentor prepare like that. He really knows what the other Club is running and how they operate to a ‘T.’ Him and the coaching staff spend a Numerous of time Only watching our film, watching the other Club’s film, Only trying to get better. They’re trying to Enhance every day. He’s very passionate. One of the most passionate coaches that I’ve ever been around.
Probably after a loss it would be a little tougher than any other day. Sometimes we’d be Executing with no water break, probably Obtained to sneak in some water. If you get a turnover or have a mistake on the court, or you’re Exhausted or something, he would send you on the treadmill for like two minutes. But for the most part, yeah, it’s intense, man. He’s an intense guy. At the beginning, I was not used to it. But as the year went on, I finally Obtained used to it.
I feel like during the time you’re with him, man, you don’t really appreciate what he’s trying to do for you. Obviously he’s trying to Achieve now, but I feel like he builds his players for life. Nothing is Effortless. He says, ‘Nothing will ever be given to you. You have to work for everything.’ And I feel like he tries to implement that every day in practice. I Impolite, Possibly sometimes you look at it like, ‘Damn, this motherf—– is on me every day.’ It’s like a gnat on your back-type s—. But in reality, he’s preparing you for life, bro. You’re going to go through adversity in life, you’re going to go through Terrible times, you’re going to go through whatever bumps you have in life.
I think he Only builds you as men. Trying to build you as much as possible through basketball, which I respect him for. The more time I’ve been away from the program, and now that I’ve gotten to the Upcoming level, I really learned to appreciate some of the life lessons that he has taught me. I appreciate that and give a Numerous of thanks to him, too.
It would Impolite a Numerous to see Mentor Pitino back in the Closing Four. He’s a Outstanding Mentor, man. And that whole scandal thing that went on with him at Louisville, it’s kinda Unhappy to see that because of how much he gives to the game. But I think they are gonna go to the Closing Four this year, to be honest with you. I don’t really see a Club that’s more well put together than them. If he does get back there, I know it’s going to be a crazy, crazy feeling. Hopefully I get to catch a game or hopefully I’m able to go to one of those Matches and see it live in person.
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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