Thursday, January 11, 2001
Pitino headed to UNLV
Says he's been offered job, will visit in next few days
The Providence Journal
It appears Rick Pitino isn't going to be out of work very long. Sources close to Pitino said the former coach of the Boston Celtics is close to being named the new coach at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, a deal that could be finalized in the next 10 days.
Pitino confirmed Wednesday that he has been offered the job and will visit UNLV in the next few days, but he stopped short of saying he already has made up his mind.
“I have a very real interest,” he said from his Miami home, “but I still need some time to decide what I'm going to do.”
Pitino resigned Monday from the Celtics, 31/2 years after he was hired as coach and president of the team.
Upon his resignation, it was expected that Pitino immediately would become a hot commodity in college basketball. That has proven to be prophetic; in the past few days, his name has surfaced in connection to the head coaching jobs at UNLV, where coach Bill Bayno was fired in mid-December, and UCLA, where athletic director Pete Dalis said he has spoken to Pitino, even though Steve Lavin is currently the UCLA coach.
Pitino reportedly called Lavin on Wednesday and told him he was not interested in the UCLA job.
Pitino has said before that his only requirement for returning to the college ranks was the opportunity to coach at that sport's highest level with a chance to win.
He said Wednesday he didn't know much about the UNLV basketball program until he spoke with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale.
“They both think it's an ideal job for me,” Pitino said.
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