Should UMass hire Rick Pitino?

Rick Pitino

Alas. It was only a matter of time that Rick Pitino, a man that loves the game of basketball, declare that he wants to coach again and will do so at any level of college or professional basketball.

Pitino’s program at Louisville did some regrettable things, such as illegally paying players and hosting parties that consisted of strippers. And because it’s Pitino’s program, he deserves every bit of the blame. Whether he was the person that handed out the money or his people that he put in charge of recruiting handed out the money, it ultimately doesn’t matter.

But does Pitino deserve a second chance? Pitino still knows how to run a program, winning 629 total career games as a coach, maintains a .732 winning percentage, and led Boston University to it’s first NCAA tournament birth in 24 years back in 1978, Providence College to the final four in the 80s and won a National Title with Kentucky. He consistently turned in positive seasons at Louisville when it comes to the team’s record (some wins have been vacated from Pitino’s record too). He knows how to find talent, coaching Patrick Ewing and Antoine Walker, while drafting Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce during his time with the Boston Celtics. Essentially, Pitino knows how to turn around college programs.

So, why doesn’t UMass give Pitino a chance? He played for the college and has ties to the area in the fact that he coached at BU and not so far away Providence College. The team has been failing ever since the John Calipari days and has no real dedication to Matt McCall, who was the team’s second choice at coach after Pat Kelsey accepted the job and then turned it down. The team didn’t have any success under McCall, who went 13-20 this season.

What Pitino could bring to the table as well is connections to alumni. With college sports, the real dedicated fans are the alumni. They’re the ones that will follow no matter what, unlike the average fan, who stops paying attention when things go sour. Alumni will get randy at the fact that they can meet him at events, take a quick picture, and watch a former player and superstar coach, at the helm the team. In return, I can see a lot of alumni donating to the school because of all the fun they had at these alumni events meeting Rick Pitino. Isn’t that what it’s all about for a college, getting people to donate to the school?

If I were at the helm of UMass, I’m sure as hell calling Pitino’s people. It’s a perfect fit, a desperate coach with a track record of turning around college programs and a team that has done nothing but go down athletically in the last 20 years.