BleedGopher
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per Greder:
The Gophers men’s basketball team learned Sunday, March 17, its NCAA tournament seeding, location and opponent. That final fact provided the juiciest story line.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino will face Louisville, the school his father, Rick Pitino, is suing for about $40 million after he was fired in October 2017 amid links to scandals.
Rick Pitino is seeking the dollar amount left on his contract through 2026, while the school contends it fired him with cause and should not have to pay. After a 2015 escort scandal cost Rick and Louisville their 2013 national championship, Rick was linked to an FBI investigation into “pay to play” recruiting schemes.
Since the start of his tenure at Minnesota in 2013, Richard said he never wanted to play Louisville while his hall of fame dad coached the Cardinals. Now heading into Thursday’s matchup between No. 10 Minnesota and No. 7 Louisville in Des Moines, Iowa, Richard again will be thrust into dealing with his father’s checkered legacy.
Richard, too, has connections with Louisville as a assistant coach under Rick during two runs to the Elite Eight 2008 and 2009, and after two years at Florida, he came back for a Final Four run in 2012.
“Some great memories. Some tough memories,” Richard said Sunday. “Being an assistant coach there, being a (coach’s son) there. Obviously, some great ones. Didn’t end well, which is very unfortunate, but to me the story here is about our players and our program and the adversity that they fought through.”
Richard pivoted to how senior forward Jordan Murphy will go down as one of the greatest Gophers ever and how senior guard Dupree McBrayer has continued to play after the death mother in December.
“We can’t make it all about coach P,” McBrayer said. “… We can’t make it all about the Pitino family. This is a team game, and it’s going to be really heartfelt and of course we want to get the win for him.”
During this season, Rick visited the Gophers before he accepted a coaching job with Panathinaikos in Greece in December. From afar, he’s been following the Gophers’ season, tweeting about their pair of wins in the Big Ten tournament last week in Chicago, which sealed Minnesota’s inclusion in the Big Dance.
On Sunday, Richard initially deflected about what his dad has shared about his falling out with Louisville.
“I think he’s sleeping right now ’cause he’s in Greece,” Richard said Sunday evening, accounting for about the time difference to Europe.
“Has he talked about Louisville in the last two years? Yeah,” Pitino added. “Not in the most positive light.”
So then, does this game have added meaning for you?
“It’s not going to be about me; I’m not going to make that about me,” Richard said. “I’m not going to be, ‘Oh, it’s revenge,’ or anything like that. It’s about our payers and it’s about this program. We worked really, really hard to put us in a position to be one of the 19 percent that gets to make the NCAA tournament in college basketball. That’s what it’s going to be about.”
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/s...pitino-gophers-vs-louisville-not-revenge-game
Go Gophers!!
The Gophers men’s basketball team learned Sunday, March 17, its NCAA tournament seeding, location and opponent. That final fact provided the juiciest story line.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino will face Louisville, the school his father, Rick Pitino, is suing for about $40 million after he was fired in October 2017 amid links to scandals.
Rick Pitino is seeking the dollar amount left on his contract through 2026, while the school contends it fired him with cause and should not have to pay. After a 2015 escort scandal cost Rick and Louisville their 2013 national championship, Rick was linked to an FBI investigation into “pay to play” recruiting schemes.
Since the start of his tenure at Minnesota in 2013, Richard said he never wanted to play Louisville while his hall of fame dad coached the Cardinals. Now heading into Thursday’s matchup between No. 10 Minnesota and No. 7 Louisville in Des Moines, Iowa, Richard again will be thrust into dealing with his father’s checkered legacy.
Richard, too, has connections with Louisville as a assistant coach under Rick during two runs to the Elite Eight 2008 and 2009, and after two years at Florida, he came back for a Final Four run in 2012.
“Some great memories. Some tough memories,” Richard said Sunday. “Being an assistant coach there, being a (coach’s son) there. Obviously, some great ones. Didn’t end well, which is very unfortunate, but to me the story here is about our players and our program and the adversity that they fought through.”
Richard pivoted to how senior forward Jordan Murphy will go down as one of the greatest Gophers ever and how senior guard Dupree McBrayer has continued to play after the death mother in December.
“We can’t make it all about coach P,” McBrayer said. “… We can’t make it all about the Pitino family. This is a team game, and it’s going to be really heartfelt and of course we want to get the win for him.”
During this season, Rick visited the Gophers before he accepted a coaching job with Panathinaikos in Greece in December. From afar, he’s been following the Gophers’ season, tweeting about their pair of wins in the Big Ten tournament last week in Chicago, which sealed Minnesota’s inclusion in the Big Dance.
On Sunday, Richard initially deflected about what his dad has shared about his falling out with Louisville.
“I think he’s sleeping right now ’cause he’s in Greece,” Richard said Sunday evening, accounting for about the time difference to Europe.
“Has he talked about Louisville in the last two years? Yeah,” Pitino added. “Not in the most positive light.”
So then, does this game have added meaning for you?
“It’s not going to be about me; I’m not going to make that about me,” Richard said. “I’m not going to be, ‘Oh, it’s revenge,’ or anything like that. It’s about our payers and it’s about this program. We worked really, really hard to put us in a position to be one of the 19 percent that gets to make the NCAA tournament in college basketball. That’s what it’s going to be about.”
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/s...pitino-gophers-vs-louisville-not-revenge-game
Go Gophers!!
