What could have been. Rick Pitino coaching at Michigan.
I wasn't aware of this but I'm sure a lot of the people on MGoBlog are. Interesting nevertheless, and even though we're in a fantastic situation I wonder what the program would be like if Pitino would've stuck with his initial choice.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/10/rick_pitino_recalls_how_close.html#incart_river
October 25th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
was buy a bunch of land and then sell it to the University. Then he got the AD job, and spent some money on obvious improvements.
October 25th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
He did hire Beilein.
October 25th, 2012 at 3:28 PM ^
I lived in Lexington in the late 90s, when Pitino coached at UK. Pitino was, and I’m sure still is, a huckster. He plugged half the business in town. He was on billboards and in TV commercials. He owned a restaurant. Yes, he recruited well and can coach, but at what price? At UK the players lived across the street from the old fieldhouse, in a place called “Wildcat Lodge,” I don’t know of course, but if a textbook were ever cracked in “Wildcat Lodge,” my guess is it would have been the first. But seemingly, no one cared --- not the university, not the athletic department, and least of all Pitino. Given the perennial sorry state of the UK football program, BB is the only game in town. As long as the team made the Final Four (at least) academic issues remained of little concern.
When Pitino’s name surfaced as a possible successor to Ellerbe I wrote Bill Martin a long letter pleading with him not to hire this guy. As it turned out, the letter was unnecessary. Tommy Amaker might not have been the greatest BB coach ever, but at least he and his program represented the university well.
Anyway, be very glad with the way things turned out, and with the BB coach M now has: Class guy, class program. Not to mention what appears to be a strong team this season.
October 25th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
I wonder if Martin didn't call Pitino back because he went to blow off some steam, had an accident, got an eyepatch, people thought he was tough, wanted to see how tough, and he ended up in a roadside ditch.
Don't end up in a roadside ditch.