Yesterday, President Obama called Rick Pitino to congratulate him and the University of Louisville men’s basketball team on their 2013 NCAA championship victory. The President told Coach Pitino that it was an exciting game to watch and that he’s built quite an impressive team over the last few years. The President congratulated Coach Pitino on his recent induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame and said that he and the First Lady were very proud of Kevin Ware and the way he handled his injury with grace. The President told Coach Pitino that he looks forward to congratulating the team in person at the White House.
Tag Archives: Rick Pitino
Louisville's Investments in Facilities, Staff Key to Athletic Successes
As the University of Louisville and Rick Pitino continue to bask in the glory of the school’s first men’s basketball championship since 1986, I ponder:
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Rick Pitino, Louisville Coach, Wins Championship, Will Get Tattoo After Best Week Ever: COLUMN
By The Huffington Post News Editors
ATLANTA (AP) — Someday soon, Rick Pitino is going to have to explain to his grandkids how he got his first and only tattoo.
But before that, he’s going to tell them the story of how getting into the Hall of Fame might have been only the second best thing that happened to him on a serendipitous Monday in April.
Because barely 12 hours after Pitino became a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in sports, he did something no college basketball coach had ever done. He won a second national championship as Louisville beat Michigan 82-76, a victory that made him the only coach to take two different schools to the top of the heap.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Rick Pitino Scared: Confetti Explosion Surprised Louisville Coach After Title Win (VIDEO/GIF)
By The Huffington Post News Editors
When his team fell behind in both the national championship game and the national semifinal, Louisville coach Rick Pitino never seemed to flinch. After the Cardinals outlasted Michigan to win the national title, however, Pitino flinched … big time.
Moments after the final buzzer sounded on Louisville’s 82-76 win, Pitino was caught off guard by the explosion of a confetti cannon and ducked for cover. Once he realized that the Georgia Dome was not coming down around him, he stood up straight and greeted Michigan coach John Beilein.
WATCH VIDEO ABOVE
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Pitino highlights class of 12 into Naismith Hall
By ESPN.com news services Rick Pitino got the phone call of a lifetime and an incredible text at the same time. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
Final Four Coaches: Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim Bring Strategy, Pedigree To NCAA Tournament
By The Huffington Post News Editors
One of the classic adages in sports is that players win games and coaches lose them. The Final Four features two of the all-time great coaches in Louisville’s Rick Pitino, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (920 wins), who becomes the first coach ever to reach a Final Four in four different decades.
A look at how each team embodies the strength and style of its head coach:
Syracuse, Jim Boeheim
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Rick Pitino: Jim Boeheim Is ‘Just A Cheap Guy’
By The Huffington Post News Editors
ATLANTA (AP) — Boeheim ‘just a cheap guy’
Rick Pitino says he knows why Jim Boeheim has coached for so long: He’s cheap.
Pitino, who was hired by Boeheim as an assistant at Syracuse in 1976, has since had four college head coaching jobs and also coached the NBA’s Knicks and Celtics while Boeheim has remained at Syracuse.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Source: Pitino to join Hall of Fame's 2013 class
By Ian O’Connor Louisville coach Rick Pitino has won induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a source told ESPNNewYork.com on Friday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
Let's See How Much Louisville and the NCAA Cares About Kevin Ware
By Roger Groves, Contributor Louisville coach Rick Pitino said the bone was punched six inches beyond the skin. The reference was to Kevin Ware. The game was not football as you might expect, but basketball in the first half of Louisville’s game against Duke in their battle to go to the Final Four. His leg is reportedly broken in two places. Pitino shed tears. His teammates on the floor were crying. Yet Ware said “win the game”. They did. They were already more athletic but from that point forward they were also more driven. The Cardinals had 10 steals, 35-26 rebounding edge and had out-willed Duke by mid-second half. They won 85-63. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Kevin Ware Surgery: Louisville Player Hospitalized After Horrific Broken Leg
By The Huffington Post News Editors
INDIANAPOLIS — A gruesome injury that left Louisville guard Kevin Ware with a broken leg plunged Lucas Oil Stadium into horrified silence, with coach Rick Pitino wiping away tears and shocked teammates openly weeping during Sunday’s Midwest Regional final.
Ware’s right leg bent in such an awkward and frightening angle that CBS stopped showing replays shortly after the fall in the NCAA tournament matchup against Duke.
Louisville's Ware suffers gruesome leg injury
By ESPN.com news services Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered a serious leg injury that left his teammates and Cardinals coach Rick Pitino visibly shaken during Sunday’s Elite Eight game against Duke. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
Louisville To Sweet 16 After Routing Colorado State 82-56 In NCAA Tournament
By The Huffington Post News Editors
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Watching film of Louisville demolishing Colorado State is going to be scary enough for anyone who has to face the Cardinals over the next two weeks.
Hearing what coach Rick Pitino said afterward is going to be downright terrifying.
March Madness Predictions: Experts’ NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks, Final Four Teams
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Shortly after the 2013 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas installed Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed, as the slight favorite to win it all. The sports media experts tended to agree that Rick Pitino‘s club was likeliest to cut down the nets in Atlanta.
“We at CBSSports.com had Louisville ranked No. 1 in the preseason. So I’m not surprised the Cardinals are the No. 1 overall seed, and I’m not about to move off of them now,” wrote Gary Parish at CBSSports.com. “They’re on a 10-game winning streak featuring six straight wins over teams also in the Field of 68.”
Out of the nine CBS writers and analysts polled, eight picked the Cards to extend their winning streak by six games. The lone CBS expert to not pick Louisville, Gregg Doyel, tapped the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the national championship.
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Payton, Hardaway among 12 finalists for Hall of Fame
HOUSTON, TX and SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today, at NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, an elite list of players and coaches, as the 12 finalists from the North American and Women’s committees to be considered for election in 2013. The recognition of being honored as a Hall of Fame finalist is a career highlight in the sport of basketball. This year’s list includes six first-time finalists: five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, three-time National Coach of the Year Sylvia Hatchell, two-time NBA Championship coach Tom Heinsohn, nine-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton, five-time WNBA All-Star Dawn Staley and six-time NBA All-Star Mitch Richmond. Previous finalists included again this year for consideration are four-time NBA All-Star Maurice Cheeks, four-time NBA All-Star Spencer Haywood, four-time NBA All-Star Bernard King, five-time NCAA Final Four coach Guy Lewis, six-time NCAA Final Four coach Rick Pitino and four-time NCAA Final Four coach Jerry Tarkanian. The Class of 2013 will be unveiled at the NCAA Final Four in April. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at NBA