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MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota sacked Richard Pitino on Monday after the men’s basketball coach compiled a regular-season record of 54-96 in eight years in the Big Ten and had just three conference results above the 10th place.
The Golden Gophers have gone 14-15 this season, losing 11 of their last 14 games. They were 0-10 on the road, one of only three major conference teams in the country without a win on the road.
Sporting director Mark Coyle was scheduled to address reporters on Tuesday morning. He called Pitino a “great person and trainer” in a statement released by the university.
“Decisions like this are never easy, but after evaluating this season and the previous eight years of our program under Richard, it’s clear to me that new leadership is needed,” said Coyle. “We have one of the best training facilities in the country, a historic competition venue and a state that produces top talent. It’s extremely engaging work.”
Pitino was not available for comment, but he posted a thank you message to Minnesota on Twitter Monday night with a photo of him and his kids at Williams Arena.
“I always wanted to represent Minnesota in the right way on a daily basis with class and integrity”, Pitino tweeted. “Crazy for what the future holds!”
According to a report from the Albuquerque Journal, Pitino was among the finalists for the coaching position in New Mexico. If hired elsewhere, Minnesota would be off the hook for a $ 1.7 million buyout, according to the wording of his three-year contract. Payments will cease when Pitino obtains “comparable employment,” which is defined in the agreement as an NCAA Division I head coach, professional team head or assistant coach, administrator or manager. ‘NCAA Division I program or commentator for a National. Broadcasting company.
Coyle should have a lot of good candidates to consider. Two sons of former Gophers head coaches, Eric Musselman (Arkansas) and Brian Dutcher (San Diego State), are proven program makers with teams currently in the NCAA tournament. Craig Smith (State of Utah) and Niko Medved (State of Colorado) are Minnesota natives who are currently successful in managing medium-sized programs. Then there’s former Gophers Ryan Saunders, who was sacked last month as coach of the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves.
Hired at age 30 with a year of experience as a head coach at Florida International, Pitino guided the Gophers to an NIT Championship in his first season. However, only two NCAA tournament appearances followed in 2017 and 2019.
The Gophers were set to return to the Big Dance this season after defeating Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Purdue – ranked No.5, No.9, No.4 and No.20 respectively in the March 8 AP poll. – before the injuries of the starters Gabe Kalscheur and Liam Robbins accelerated another end-of-season slide.
The Gophers just didn’t put in enough shots to call and had to work too hard to get them. In the Division I standings on Friday, they were 13th in 3-point attempts and 334th in 3-point percentage.
Quick-witted and even-tempered, Pitino has never claimed to ignore public criticism. After a win over then-No. 6 Maryland in 2016, Pitino joked that he could “start walking into Starbucks instead of going through the drive-thru.” He expressed the same peace after Minnesota lost Thursday in the Big Ten tournament, anticipating their postseason meeting with Coyle.
“We all have losses. It’s okay. I have a great relationship with Mark. If he gives me bad news, that doesn’t mean I’m going to be flipping an office or anything,” Pitino said.
Minnesota’s best run under Pitino dates back to 2017, when a 7-0 record in February fueled a fourth place finish in the Big Ten and a No.5 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Gophers were one and done. Two years later, they beat Louisville in the NCAA tournament to reach the second round.
Son of longtime professional and college coach Rick Pitino, who was the first to win NCAA championships at two different schools with Kentucky and Louisville, Richard Pitino was chosen by former Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague to replace Tubby Smith. The elder Pitino, now a coach at Iona, returns to the NCAA tournament this month as a No.15 seed.
After striking with Fred Hoiberg, Flip Saunders, Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens, Teague received a strong endorsement from Richard Pitino from Billy Donovan, the current NBA coach with the Chicago Bulls who had Pitino on his 2009 Florida squad. to 2011.
Pitino, his wife, and three children grew fond of Minnesota despite their East Coast roots, but he ultimately failed to forge a solid connection with the state’s high school circuit, with Minnesota producing some very important prospects every year. .
Of course, two of the 2019 team’s best players, Amir Coffey and Daniel Oturu, are both originally from Minnesota and are now part of the LA Clippers in the NBA. However, there have been too many recruiting failures that left the Gophers with little depth when injuries hit.
One of those smells came with the freshman class in 2017, when Pitino and his staff signed Isaiah Washington to the New York point guard and passed over McKinley Wright IV from Minnesota. Wright went on to become the all-time assists leader in Colorado, where he was a three-time All-Pac-12 player. Washington was transferred after two seasons with the Gophers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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