LOUISVILLE — Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich doesn't care if Rick Pitino coached at rival Kentucky or failed to turn around the Boston Celtics. He's the only man Jurich wants to replace Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum.

        Jurich and Pitino will meet in Florida this weekend about the job vacated when Crum retired Friday.

        “What I've tried to focus on is who would be the best fit and who would do the best job and who I would enjoy working with,” Jurich said at a news conference Tuesday. “I feel, at this point, Coach Pitino is really who I want to focus on. I want to go down and spend as much time as I possibly can selling the amenities of this program.

        “It's a program I feel is one of the top five jobs in America, and I want the opportunity to tell him.”

        Pitino said earlier in the day on ESPN Radio that he was interested in the Louisville job. He took over a Kentucky program strapped with NCAA probation in 1989 and turned it into an NCAA champion seven years later. He left the program after the following season to run the Celtics but resigned in January after 3 1/2 unsuccessful seasons.

        Pitino's disappointing stint with the Celtics doesn't faze Jurich.

        “He had a bump in the road in Boston, but I don't compare an NBA job to this job,” Jurich said.

        Pitino's ties to the Kentucky program are a bonus, Jurich said.

        “He's a very well-known man in this state, a man of very high stature,” Jurich said.

        Crum coached Louisville to two NCAA championships in 30 seasons, but his program has declined in recent years. The Cardinals were hit twice with NCAA probation in the early 1990s and have gone just 62-61 the past four seasons.

        “This program definitely needs a shot in the arm, and we're going to need somebody of the caliber of Coach Pitino to come in here,” Jurich said.

        Pitino removed his name from consideration for the UNLV job Sunday night.

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