Richard Pitino Doug Gottlieb Podcast March 2022

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Doug asks Richard about growing up, famous dad, assistant jobs, different FIU intel on why Richard was looking to move, Norwood, Mark Coyle, the Minnesota roller coaster, McKinley Wright vs Jelly, crying 5 months after being at New Mexico, Mashburn and House, Mashburn family, the PIT. Lotta 8 year Gopher history through his eyes.

New Mexico was 303 in the NET last year...162 now after year one. 6 wins last year. 8 new players to start the rebuild. That 162 rating...Long Beach is 154. Me: New Mexico beat a handful of teams in the NCAA Tournament and lost close to couple others in.

Very interesting albeit very long. Starts at the 9 minute mark. No interest...don't click the thread.

Gottlieb Podcast
 



Always liked Richard's sense of humor, even poking fun at himself a little recently with Berrierro's Musselman tweet, he'd be very good on TV if he went that route, but I think his TV/Media personality wasn't the same as his coaching personality and ultimately he just didn't win enough in his eight years here, I'll give it a listen, always wanted to hear his side of McKinley vs Jelly
 



Always liked Richard's sense of humor, even poking fun at himself a little recently with Berrierro's Musselman tweet, he'd be very good on TV if he went that route, but I think his TV/Media personality wasn't the same as his coaching personality and ultimately he just didn't win enough in his eight years here, I'll give it a listen, always wanted to hear his side of McKinley vs Jelly
He should choose TV. He’s knowledgeable about basketball. Has some player relation things to figure out and needs to not be lazy recruiting.
 

Always liked Richard's sense of humor, even poking fun at himself a little recently with Berrierro's Musselman tweet, he'd be very good on TV if he went that route, but I think his TV/Media personality wasn't the same as his coaching personality and ultimately he just didn't win enough in his eight years here, I'll give it a listen, always wanted to hear his side of McKinley vs Jelly
On McKinely, Pitino said he didn't ever tell Pitino that he was coming to the U. Jelly grabbed the spot first. In hide sight he says he should have held off a little longe waiting on McKinely. He didn't realize at the time how important it was to get a local recruit. He also said that Mckinely was a very good player with all the intangibles, but he never shot the ball in AAU so there was some question about how good of a shooter he was. He also knew the Dayton visit went well and that McKinely might have chosen Dayton over the U.

He also talked about the issue with Wisconsin was that some kids just want to get away from home. All of the local recruits live near the TC's and Wisconsin is the closest school to "get away" but still be close enough to come back.
 

On McKinely, Pitino said he didn't ever tell Pitino that he was coming to the U. Jelly grabbed the spot first. In hide sight he says he should have held off a little longe waiting on McKinely. He didn't realize at the time how important it was to get a local recruit. He also said that Mckinely was a very good player with all the intangibles, but he never shot the ball in AAU so there was some question about how good of a shooter he was. He also knew the Dayton visit went well and that McKinely might have chosen Dayton over the U.

He also talked about the issue with Wisconsin was that some kids just want to get away from home. All of the local recruits live near the TC's and Wisconsin is the closest school to "get away" but still be close enough to come back.
He certainly was not going to mention playing for a winner, not just getting away. Even coaches that know him well feel strongly about his complete failure to establish a foundation of character.
 

On McKinely, Pitino said he didn't ever tell Pitino that he was coming to the U. Jelly grabbed the spot first. In hide sight he says he should have held off a little longe waiting on McKinely. He didn't realize at the time how important it was to get a local recruit. He also said that Mckinely was a very good player with all the intangibles, but he never shot the ball in AAU so there was some question about how good of a shooter he was. He also knew the Dayton visit went well and that McKinely might have chosen Dayton over the U.

He also talked about the issue with Wisconsin was that some kids just want to get away from home. All of the local recruits live near the TC's and Wisconsin is the closest school to "get away" but still be close enough to come back.
Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.
 



Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.
Ben sounds like the guy who sat behind his boss knowing he could do a better job, so he left and went Xavier.
 

Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.
I'm sure they had legitimate concerns about Wright's shooting, and Washington did have a perimeter shot coming out of high school...and he was very flashy. But when it came down to it, Pitino and Young had an east coast bias. Why would we take some local kid when we can get a folk hero from NewYork!? These hicks around here think they know what real basketball is and think their favorite sons are as good as City kids! I think a local player had to be 4 stars in order to get Richard interested. They definitely recruited primarily to star ratings.
 

I'm sure they had legitimate concerns about Wright's shooting, and Washington did have a perimeter shot coming out of high school...and he was very flashy. But when it came down to it, Pitino and Young had an east coast bias. Why would we take some local kid when we can get a folk hero from NewYork!? These hicks around here think they know what real basketball is and think their favorite sons are as good as City kids! I think a local player had to be 4 stars in order to get Richard interested. They definitely recruited primarily to star ratings.
Which means they didn't have an eye for good talent, made someone else do the work and then they were always too late.
 

Which means they didn't have an eye for good talent, made someone else do the work and then they were always too late.
I'll be the first to admit, it's hard to foresee the potential for growth in a guy like Wright. On the other hand, the little I saw of him, I knew he was something special and had the physicality to play major-conference. Washington was weak both physically and mentally.
 



I'm sure they had legitimate concerns about Wright's shooting, and Washington did have a perimeter shot coming out of high school...and he was very flashy. But when it came down to it, Pitino and Young had an east coast bias. Why would we take some local kid when we can get a folk hero from NewYork!? These hicks around here think they know what real basketball is and think their favorite sons are as good as City kids! I think a local player had to be 4 stars in order to get Richard interested. They definitely recruited primarily to star ratings.

Hindsight is 50-50. Jelly was rated in the same ballpark as Coffey and Oturu. I don't remember too many people being disappointed we landed him. A lot of schools missed on Wright.

Pitino also took the lowly rated Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy. They turned out alright. Most of Pitino's teams had talent, which is amazing for someone who allegedly can't recruit. In many cases they were just derailed by injuries and not coached well.
 

Hindsight is 50-50. Jelly was rated in the same ballpark as Coffey and Oturu. I don't remember too many people being disappointed we landed him. A lot of schools missed on Wright.

Pitino also took the lowly rated Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy. They turned out alright. Most of Pitino's teams had talent, which is amazing for someone who allegedly can't recruit. In many cases they were just derailed by injuries and not coached well.
Spot on
 

Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.

Ben gave his notice, and then recruited their entire next recruiting class of Oturu, Gabe, and Omersa, all from Minnesota? Interesting revision of events.
 

I'll be the first to admit, it's hard to foresee the potential for growth in a guy like Wright. On the other hand, the little I saw of him, I knew he was something special and had the physicality to play major-conference. Washington was weak both physically and mentally.
Jelly was a weird one to me. In some ways, he reminded me of Hayo Carpenter. The second I started watching him he just seemed like a guy who wasn't explosive and wasn't a very good shooter. I'm assuming he was impressive in the AAU circuit and people much more plugged in than me liked him.

That said, I don't have an issue with Pitino offering him. People make mistakes in recruiting. If it played out the way some people say it did (blindsiding McKinley), then that seems super short-sighted.
 


Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.
Except Ben was here for two more seasons
 

I'm sure they had legitimate concerns about Wright's shooting, and Washington did have a perimeter shot coming out of high school...and he was very flashy. But when it came down to it, Pitino and Young had an east coast bias. Why would we take some local kid when we can get a folk hero from NewYork!? These hicks around here think they know what real basketball is and think their favorite sons are as good as City kids! I think a local player had to be 4 stars in order to get Richard interested. They definitely recruited primarily to star ratings.
Outside of Amir and Oturu, all of Pitino's best players, Nate Mason, Gabe, Murphy, Dupree were all in the 175-200 range
 




Ben gave his notice, and then recruited their entire next recruiting class of Oturu, Gabe, and Omersa, all from Minnesota? Interesting revision of events.
Should have said….”took notice,” and began looking for another job.
the unraveling….was with the local AAU programs. They did not appreciate the treachery.
 

Wright was announcing for Minnesota and everyone knew it…including Pitino. Wright was also Ben’s recruit, but Richard and Kimani Young preferred Jelly, and they urged him to take the spot before Wright’s announcement. That‘s when Ben gave his notice, and whole thing began to unravel.
You can go ahead and claim anything you want, but Pitino said that Wright had not indicated to him he was going to attend the U. I do think Pitino was a little more attracted to the hype of Jelly. Top PG, Mr Basketball in NY, a celebrity as a high schooler, etc... etc... He was like a rock star recruit, but strangely without the rock star offers.


Jelly signed first, Pitino did say that he should have delayed IW a little longer to try and get Wright now knowing the impact of a local recruit. Pitino has no reason to lie about it, he could easily say he though IW was a better fit and just leave it at that.
 

Should have said….”took notice,” and began looking for another job.
the unraveling….was with the local AAU programs. They did not appreciate the treachery.

As I mentioned, Pitino took all Ben Johnson/in state recruits the year after the Jelly class.

Seems odd for a coach on his way out with 'unraveling' AAU connections.
 

As I mentioned, Pitino took all Ben Johnson/in state recruits the year after the Jelly class.
Seems odd for a coach on his way out with 'unraveling' AAU connections.
Not really. He didn't sabotage the program. It's his alma mater. He left the next year and it's not a coincidence.
 

You can go ahead and claim anything you want, but Pitino said that Wright had not indicated to him he was going to attend the U. I do think Pitino was a little more attracted to the hype of Jelly. Top PG, Mr Basketball in NY, a celebrity as a high schooler, etc... etc... He was like a rock star recruit, but strangely without the rock star offers.


Jelly signed first, Pitino did say that he should have delayed IW a little longer to try and get Wright now knowing the impact of a local recruit. Pitino has no reason to lie about it, he could easily say he though IW was a better fit and just leave it at that.
And the lack of understanding/communication between the two stories is where things fell apart. Wrights camp felt that Pitino told him to hold off on his commitment only to accept Jelly's while he went on his Dayton visit. Wright was under the understanding that he has priority with the spot and he didn't get a phone call and saw Jelly committed on twitter. I'm not saying either side is lying or being truthful, but that is what the angst was.
 

Ben gave his notice, and then recruited their entire next recruiting class of Oturu, Gabe, and Omersa, all from Minnesota? Interesting revision of events.
It's when Ben decided he wasn't staying here forever and decided to take what looked like a lateral position the next season.
 

He certainly was not going to mention playing for a winner, not just getting away. Even coaches that know him well feel strongly about his complete failure to establish a foundation of character.
Good grief. Please, please, please tell us more about RP failings.......please?
 




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