Basketball Fever Rick Pitino is the definition of greatness when the topic of Basketball coaches come up. He has lived an extraordinary life, from his childhood to his current years. A majority of those years involves basketball. You can tell a man loves what he does when he spends a good portion of his life doing it. And doing what Rick Pitino does, he has won many awards. But I don’t think it’s about the awards to most people. It’s just about the love of the game. And the love of the game can take people a far way. Rick Pitino was born on September 18th, 1952, in New York City, New York. He was raised in Bayville, New York. He started basketball at a young age, and worked his way up to be the captain of his high school basketball team,
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He started off as an assistant at the College of Charleston. He moved from there, to Northeastern University, to Duquesne University, and finally to Louisville under Rick as an assistant coach. From Louisville he did receive a head coaching job at the University of Minnesota. Taking the job, he would replace Tubby Smith. He remains there to this day. Richard and Rick have played coached against each other. Rick has won the game every time. On September 11th, 2001, a lot of people lost loved ones. That includes Rick Pitino. His brother in law, Billy Minardi, was working that day in one of the twin towers. He was a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. The planes hit the towers and Billy passed away. In honor of Billy, Rick host a game every year called the Billy Minardi Classic. Louisville also decided to name one of their dorms, “Billy Minardi Hall”. Even though he is still coaching, he has won a career worth of awards and accomplishments. He has been a conference champion ten times. He has been to seven Final Fours, and had won two National Championships. He has won the Best Coach/Manager ESPY award, NABC Coach of the Year award, and the Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year award three times. Over all those awards though, he was admitted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Something every basketball coach dreams of. You would think a basketball coach would retire after that, but Pitino is still going. And I’m sure more awards are
He started off as an assistant at the College of Charleston. He moved from there, to Northeastern University, to Duquesne University, and finally to Louisville under Rick as an assistant coach. From Louisville he did receive a head coaching job at the University of Minnesota. Taking the job, he would replace Tubby Smith. He remains there to this day. Richard and Rick have played coached against each other. Rick has won the game every time. On September 11th, 2001, a lot of people lost loved ones. That includes Rick Pitino. His brother in law, Billy Minardi, was working that day in one of the twin towers. He was a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. The planes hit the towers and Billy passed away. In honor of Billy, Rick host a game every year called the Billy Minardi Classic. Louisville also decided to name one of their dorms, “Billy Minardi Hall”. Even though he is still coaching, he has won a career worth of awards and accomplishments. He has been a conference champion ten times. He has been to seven Final Fours, and had won two National Championships. He has won the Best Coach/Manager ESPY award, NABC Coach of the Year award, and the Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year award three times. Over all those awards though, he was admitted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Something every basketball coach dreams of. You would think a basketball coach would retire after that, but Pitino is still going. And I’m sure more awards are