Rick Pitino says something really, really, really dumb

A couple of weeks ago, Rick Pitino compared Pitt and Syracuse leaving the Big East to The Godfather.

That worked. Today's didn't.

"My problem is not them leaving," Pitino said to reporters at today's Big East media day. "My problem is you did it in 48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."


Pitino probably couldn't have made a worse analogy. If you've forgotten, he stepped out on his wife of 27 years for a (brief) sexual encounter with a woman named Karen Sypher, who promptly attempted to extort him. I know Pitino hasn't forgotten about it; he went through a very long, very drawn out and very public trial that revealed a number of embarrassing details about his one-night tryst. It nearly cost him his family.

The unfortunate part is that his message -- which actually makes sense -- is going to get lost in his delivery. Pitt and Syracuse did sneak out the back door of the Big East in the middle of the night. Their defection, while understandable and probably the smart move, stings those still in the league because there was no warning. The league Pitt and Syracuse shared for over 30 years found out because Brett McMurphy and Pete Thamel are good at their job.

Pick your words more carefully next time, Rick.

As an aside, for people that enjoy trolls reveling in their douchebaggery, check out the comment section here and here. My favorite: "I think he is suffering dementia from late stage syperhillis."
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Rick Pitino: shots fired at the ACC, Syracuse, and Pitt

I love that Rick Pitino has a personal blog. He doesn't, for a second, hold his tongue on how he feels about certain issues. If you remember, just last week Pitino compared Pitt and Syracuse leaving to a scene in The Godfather.

In his latest blog, he takes a not-so-subtle shot at those two schools:

If my information is correct, the ACC, namely certain basketball coaches, did not like the amount of exposure BIG EAST basketball was getting nationally and the amount of tournament teams selected the past couple of seasons. Their feelings were made known at conference meetings. Now true or untrue, you can’t tell me that Pitt and Syracuse are making ACC football significantly better. In the last few years, they have laid off more football staff coaches than Bank of America did with its employees last week. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but let’s take a step back.

The leadership of Pittsburgh and the affiliation of head coach Jaime Dixon are major reasons Texas Christian joined the BIG EAST. Distance questionable, but an extremely good move football-wise. Before their bodies were warm, they pulled a dixie to the ACC. So let’s not cast blame on any one person. BIG EAST basketball became too strong and certain factions didn’t like that fact. Remember, the ACC had that reputation and dominance in basketball for years.

Tell 'em how you really feel, Rick.

Later on in the post, Pitino gives his own advice on what he thinks the Big East should do to replace Pitt and Syracuse. To start, he says add Temple in all sports. They have a great basketball program, they've already been a part of the Big East in football, and they are located in the middle of Big East country in Philly. Next, he says add Air Force, Navy and Army in football only and promote Villanova up to the Big East in football. These aren't new ideas -- all of them have been floated many times throughout the blogosphere and the twitterverse -- but it is interesting to see them coming from a well-known head coach.

The irony in all this? It comes out on the same day that a reporter named Greg Swaim floated the rumor that Louisville has a standing offer from the Big 12.
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Rick Pitino compares Pitt and Syracuse to The Godfather

More college coaches need to do what Rick Pitino has done and start a blog.

It gives them a chance to speak their mind without having to deal with the cliches and the generalities that come through during press conferences and phone interviews. Its just Pitino being Pitino, and the analogy he used regarding the defection of Syracuse and Pitt to the Big East is about as Pitino as you can get:

The words of the Pitt chancellor ring out at the Newport, RI league meetings: we must stick together. There is a scene from the godfather where one of the capo’s of the Corleone family approached Michael at his dad’s funeral. He told Michael he could arrange a meeting to stop the bloodshed. The Godfather told Michael that the one who comes to set up the meeting will be the one who betrays the family. Robert Duval, as Tom Hagen the consigliere, thought it would be Clemenza who would be the one. Instead, it was good old Abe Pagoda as Salvatore Tessio. Michael Corleone’s response to Tom was the answer to why Pittsburgh and Syracuse would make the move. His response: it was the smart move.

Well, there you have it. The smart play was made by two schools that helped the BIG EAST explode in basketball popularity. Now, in a mere 72 hours, they are BIG EAST history.

The chess match now begins.

Will UConn and Rutgers be the next to join the ACC as many predict?

The BIG EAST will have a conference call and the football members will all say they will stick together – that is, until an offer they can’t refuse comes along. I love these movie analogies.

It doesn't get much better than an Italian coach that looks and speaks like he's straight out of an episode of The Sopranos using a godfather analogy. (Would you all judge me if I told you I've never actually seen The Godfather?)

It also gives us a good jumping off to discuss the future of Louisville and, for that matter, the Big East. Where do they go from here? Right now, there are six football playing members left: Louisville, South Florida, Cincinnati, West Virginia, UConn and Rutgers. That number becomes seven when TCU joins next fall.

Theoretically speaking, the Big East could still hang on and hope for survival as a power conference by adding the likes of Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, and Memphis or Central Florida. The name "the Big East" will probably need some tweaking, seeing as the majority of the conference will be in the Central and Southern part of the country, but as an entity it would still exist.

The problem? That just isn't feasible. For starters, there is no guarantee that UConn, Rutgers or West Virginia are going to remain committed. The Huskies and the Scarlet Knights appear destined for the ACC as well, while the Mountaineers have been rumored to be one of the few teams in the mix for the SEC's 14th (and 15th or 16th?) spot. Replacing two football playing members is possible. Replacing five is not.

The most shocking part of all of this is that, like Kansas and Kansas State, Louisville appears to be a college sports power house without a home. The logical fit would be the SEC, but does the SEC want them? The ACC probably doesn't. Ditto with the Big Ten. It looks like the Pac-12 is going after Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Could Louisville partner up with the Big 12 castoffs, the Big East cast offs and the likes of Memphis and Central Florida to create a league that keeps a BCS bid? To me, that is the most likely scenario.
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Rick Pitino scouts his team on his blog

While his last blog post sparked the ire of media member and Big East fans, Rick Pitino's newest post will likely be received with much less criticism.

With Louisville prepping to head on a team trip to the Bahamas, the Cardinals have been allowed to practice over the summer. To keep fans posted on how the work is going, Pitino posted a scouting report of every player. Jared Swopshire, Raheem Buckles, Luke Hancock, Kevin Ware, and Wayne Blackshear have yet to practice, but everyone else received a refreshing dose of honesty from Pitino.

I'm not going to go through every player, but here are some of my favorite lines:

• On Kyle Kuric and Peyton Siva: "The only thing absent for him in the three days was competition. Peyton and Kyle did not get anyone who could make it difficult for them to score. That will change in September."


• On Gorgui Dieng: "His incredible length will get him six or seven offensive rebounds in our segments, but he will go through an hour with just a few defensive boards."


• On Angel Nunez: "When we offered him a scholarship, it came with much trepidation. Was highly regarded in New York City as a sophomore, but then spiraled down the next two years. Why did I gamble on him? He reminds me so much of Francisco Garcia (Angel’s idol) and not because he is a fellow Dominican. Same body type, long and thin, outstanding shooter with excellent form, and same defensive type as Francisco -- which means he can’t defend Vinny Tatum, our esteemed equipment manager."


• On Russ Smith: "Ralph Willard has had long meetings with him. Stevie Mass also. Add me to the mix multiple times. Russ just does not want to be a point guard. There was a point in our scrimmage where he took six shots in 42 seconds."


• On Chane Behanan: "Ray Ganong , our strength coach who has performed his duties in football as well, states Chane measures the widest calf and thighs of any athlete he’s ever measured -- linemen included (calf is 19 3/8”, thigh is 27 ¾”)."

Louisville fans, you'll surely enjoy that post.
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Rick Pitino on concussions: "The new thing is everybody has concussion"

The most disconcerting news coming out of Louisville this weekend had nothing to do with Rick Pitino's decision to recruit Ricardo Ledo through the Puerto Rican national team.

Elisha Justice took an elbow to the face in Saturday's win over. He got hit hard enough that he suffered a concussion.

Rick Pitino, however, doesn't think too highly of those that suffer a concussion:

It's the seventeenth concussion we've had this year. I've been coaching now 35 years. I've seen maybe 5 concussions in 35 years. The new thing is everybody has a concussion. If you walk out and slightly brush the door, you have a concussion. That's the way it is today.

And here is the video (jump to the 2:45 mark):



This is precisely the wrong attitude to have about concussions.

The reason there are more concussions diagnosed these days is not because more concussions are occurring. Its because we actually now know 1) how to correctly diagnose a concussion and 2) just how serious concussions are, especially when you start getting into multiple concussion territory.

The discussion is much more common in regards to football, where 350 lb are using their helmeted heads as weapons, but suffering a concussion on a basketball court is not an uncommon thing. In my playing career alone I've seen elbows that have shattered eye sockets, heads whipping against the floor when legs get taken out, and, on one occasion, a game stopped and a player taken via helicopter to New York City for emergency facial reconstruction surgery after an ugly collision (that was not a fun sight).

And I played at a level when players were significantly smaller, weaker, slower, and didn't jump as high as they do at a place like Louisville.

Concussions are a very serious issue. It is, essentially, a bruise on your brain. Does that sound, in any way, like something you want to mess around with?

To Pitino's credit, he sounds like he is saying this tongue in cheek. I think (I hope) that he is smart enough to know that rushing a player back from an injury like a concussion is unsafe, and that putting pressure on that player to come back early is unfair.
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Bruce Pearl, Rick Pitino, and Jim Calhoun teaching clinics on dealing with adversity

The new AP and Coaches polls were released this afternoon.

The Big Ten has five teams in each poll. The Big XII has six in the AP poll and five in the Coaches poll, with Texas A&M checking in 26th. The Big East has seven in both. Based on those numbers alone, its pretty easy to see why those three conferences are universally regarded as the three best in the country.

It wasn't supposed to be that way.

Before the season began, all the pundits -- ourselves included -- said that the Big Ten and the Big XII were far and away the two best conferences in the country. Both appeared to be far stronger at the top than the other six power conferences, and neither of them had the amount of extra baggage at the bottom of the league that the Big East does.

What changed?

There are a number of answers to that question. Purdue lost Robbie Hummel for the season with a torn acl. Neither Michigan State or Kansas State has played up to their potential. Teams like Texas, Missouri, and Minnesota have alternated looking great with looking thoroughly mediocre.

But perhaps the single biggest reason that the Big East is in the conversation as the best conference in the country has been the play of two teams no one expected much out of this season -- Louisville and UConn.

It wouldn't be easy to find a team with a more turbulent 12 months than UConn or Louisville.

The Huskies are facing NCAA sanctions after a scandal came to light involving a recruit (presumably Nate Miles), an agent with ties to the UConn program, and UConn's knowledge of this relationship. Jim Calhoun steered clear (or attempted to) of the allegations by throwing his staff and his athletic department under the bus, but he couldn't avoid the speculation that his diminishing health and a program on a downward trend would force his ouster as head Husky.


With Kemba Walker surrounded by, well, Alex Oriakhi and a bunch of freshmen, no one was surprised that the Huskies were picked to finish 10th in the Big East. Not with that kind of cloud looming over their head.

Its also why no one could have predicted the Huskies incredible run in the Maui Invitational. As you are all well aware, UConn knocked off Wichita State, Kentucky, and Michigan State on the shoulders on Kemba Walker, climbing to No. 4 in the polls released today.

Louisville's start has not made as many national headlines, but they have been just as surprising.

Everything that could have gone wrong this offseason did. To start, Louisville lost two star recruits -- Michael Chandler and Marquis Teague. One of those recruits, Teague, ended up committing to rival Kentucky. All this happened while Rick Pitino's name was dragged through the mud during Karen Sypher's trial for attempting to extort Pitino. Then freshman Justin Coleman was declared ineligible, Roburt Sallie did not graduate in time from Memphis to gain eligibility at Louisville, and Russ Smith and Jared Swopshire (who was expected to start) were injured before the season even began. Do I need to mention Preston Knowles' suspension for getting into a fight with his girlfriend's father?


None of it, however, has slowed down the Cardinals. Louisville is now 8-0 on the season with impressive wins over Butler and UNLV. Perhaps more important than those victories was a win Pitino had on the recruiting trail. Over the weekend, he landed a commitment from Rodney Purvis, a top ten player in the class of 2012.

So much for the embarrassment of the Sypher trial affecting Pitino's ability to recruit.

But when it comes to overcoming adversity, no one has done it better than Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers.

The past year has been incredibly difficult for Pearl's program. On New Years Day of this year, four of his players were caught in a car with guns, drugs, and an open bottle of liquor. Tyler Smith ended up being kicked off the team, while Brian Williams, Melvin Goins, and Cam Tatum were all suspended for multiple games. Then there was Bruce Pearl's recruiting violations, his lies to the NCAA and to his program trying to cover it up, his upcoming eight game suspension, and the looming NCAA sanctions.


There is not shortage of distraction there, yet Pearl's club has gone 25-7 in 2010 calender year. That includes wins over Kansas and Kentucky last year, a run that took them within one possession of making the 2010 Final Four, and this season's 7-0 start with wins over Villanova and Pitt, which came on Saturday. The win over Pitt was so impressive that it vaulted the Volunteers to No. 7 in the country. Keep in mind, this team was picked to finish 4th in the SEC East.

That's not supposed to happen.

None of it is.

Team's facing this kind of adversity are not supposed to be winning games, but they are.

And while the guys doing the bulk of the work are wearing the uniforms -- Kemba Walker and Scotty Hopson are playing their way up NBA draft boards, while Louisville has had different heroes every night, most recently Knowles and his 20 point second half against UNLV -- the credit has to be given to the coaches.

In this day and age, its near impossible to keep your players insulated from media and fan scrutiny. Not when a simple google search will bring any number of words written on your team. Not when message boards give every moron with a keyboard a voice. And especially not when its possible to mention a player in a tweet and have the message go straight to that player's phone.

For Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, and Bruce Pearl, their task at hand has been to keep their players focus on the court, not off of it.

I think its safe to say they have done an impressive job in that department.

Love 'em, hate 'em, completely indifferent towards 'em, the job that these three coaches have done this season in the face of this kind of adversity is impressive, to say the absolute least.
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Shabaka Lands is out at Louisville

Anyone remember the name Shabaka Lands?

Anyone?

He was an assistant coach at Pike High School in Indianapolis -- the same high school that produced talents like Robert Vaden, Courtney Lee, Chris Thomas (Notre Dame), Jason Gardner, and Jeff Teague -- before being hired by Louisville as a program assistant. Pike's current star is Marquis Teague, a top ten talent nationally. Lands just so happened to get the job with Louisville at a time when Teague was deciding whether he should go to Louisville or Kentucky.

Pitino whiffed on Marquis Teague, so he got rid of Shabaka Lands.
(photo credit: Strait Pinkie)

Quite the coincidence, if by coincidence I mean package deal. And if by package deal, I mean legal-then-illegal-now package deal.

But there was a problem. Teague didn't want to go to Louisville. He committed to Kentucky in April, putting Lands in what had to be an uncomfortable position with the Cardinals.

A position, apparently, he no longer has. According to John Clay of the Lexington-Herald, Lands is no longer with Louisville, which comes as no surprise. Also not a surprise is the reaction of Kentucky fans to this news.

But that's not the most interesting part of the story. Rick Pitino tried to utilize a loophole -- a loophole that has since been closed -- to land a talented recruit. It didn't work, so he cut his losses and dropped his mistake. Pitino broke no rules, and did what any intelligent human being would have done. I believe they say that's being a businessman.

No, the most interesting part of this story is that the scoop goes to some random Kentucky fan named Jacob Kiper. Kiper emailed a whole bunch of bloggers and reporters (including Clay and Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio) until someone took the bait and wrote about it. I think its fair to say that Kiper wanted to smear Pitino, which doesn't exactly correspond with the idea of unbiased "journalism" (That was journalism in the Twitter era, right?), but whatever.

Nice work, Jacob.
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Chane Behanan, the Kentucky native, picks Louisville

Louisville's big weekend is already paying off. This morning, Chane Behanan, who is rated 25th in our consensus rankings, pulled the trigger on the 'Ville.

"Louisville is where I will be going," Behanan said according to Jody Demling at the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I felt so comfortable with the players and the coaches and my family really liked the environment. It was the best place for me."

This is a big get for Rick Pitino. Behanan is the highest-rated Kentucky native in the class of 2011, and Behanan admitted that John Calipari was recruiting him pretty heavily this summer. He made an unofficial visit to the Kentucky campus a few weeks ago, and according to Behanan, Coach Cal offered him a scholarship.

Chane Behanan chose Louisville today at a press conference.
(photo credit: Louisville C-J)

Which means that Pitino, technically, beat Calipari out for a recruit. We can argue semantics -- Louisville may have been recruiting Behanan harder, Behanan may simply have grown up a Cardinals fan, etc. -- but the bottom line is that both Calipari and Pitino had given scholarship offers to Behanan, and he chose Pitino. As we are all well aware, that doesn't happen often these days for anyone, let alone Pitino, who already lost Marquis Teague to his in-state rival.

It may be even more significant when you consider that Behanan is a Kentucky native. Kentucky may be the home of Big Blue Nation, but politically, the Commonwealth is red. Red states aren't generally too supportive of abortion. Maybe I'm digging too deep here, but if an in-state recruit, and his family, is able to look past what was revealed during Karen Sypher's trial, shouldn't that lessen any concerns that the family of a Quincy Miller or a Deuce Bello or a Josiah Turner have?

Because those players may be more important.

That's not meant as a shot at Behanan, either. As a basketball player, Behanan will be a fine addition for Louisville. He's a big, strong forward (6'7", 230 lb) with deceptive quickness and leaping ability that has a pretty well-developed face-up game. He also plays the game hard, which is always a plus. He will, in all-likelihood, contribute significant minutes immediately.

But Behanan isn't a program changer. Miller, however, is, especially if he comes with Bello as a package deal, as many expect. And if Turner follows suit, joining Will Blackshear who is already committed, the Cardinals will have a recruiting class that is nearly as good as Kentucky's in 2011.

(Pause for a second right here. Let's pretend that Louisville does land all three of those recruits. Can you imagine the matchup between the Cats and the Cards in 2011? Four of the top ten, and nine of the top 50 recruits on one court. It would be like the McDonald's all-american game, except better because they will actually play.)

Now, that is a big 'if' (according to Adam Zagoria, Bello and Miller could very well end up visiting Baylor), specifically with Turner, but landing Behanan is a very nice step in the right direction.


Anyway, here is a video of an interview with Behanan after his press conference today (more here):




For those that like mixtapes, take a look at Behanan from the summer:



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Quincy Miller could commit to Louisville this weekend

UPDATE: Apparently Chane Behanan, a Kentucky native and No. 36 in our consensus rankings, will also be on the visit next weekend.


To say the least, Rick Pitino has had a pretty rough offseason.

From losing underclassmen to the NBA Draft to losing not one, not two, but four highly regarded recruits to losing just about all of his dignity, Pitino has gotten himself into a situation where his Louisville program, just 18 months removed from being the 2009 NCAA Tournament's top overall seed, is getting dangerously close to rebuilding mode. And I'm sure that watching his in-state rival unabashedly dominate the world of recruiting cannot help matters.

Most believe that in order Pitino to rebuild his program, he needs to rebuild his image. In other words, he needs to remove the tarnish from his name. He needs people to conjure up memories of his 1996 national title and the Final Fours he has been to with three different programs (he's the only coach to do so). He needs to make people to forget about his 15 seconds of shame.

It is incredibly unlikely that he can make that happen.

But one way to get people off the subject is to make headlines somewhere else. Like in recruiting.

Could that happen as soon as this weekend?


Quincy Miller is one of the best players in the class of 2011. He is the consensus No. 3 recruit in our rankings, and is placed now lower than 5th by any of the major outlets. According to Evan Daniels, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com, Miller is no longer involved with Kentucky. He is taking an official visit to Louisville this weekend, and Daniels said on Matt Jones' radio show yesterday that there is a chance Miller could commit to the Cardinals then.

It gets better.

Miller and Deuce Bello are essentially attached at the hip. Most believe that the two are destined to end up playing college ball together. Bello is joining Miller at Louisville this weekend, and if Miller pops for the Cardinals, there is a real possibility that Bello, who is 45th overall in our rankings, would do the same.

And remember, Pitino already has a commitment from Wayne Blackshear, the No. 16 recruit in our rankings.

If you figure that Justin Coleman spends a year at Louisville getting eligible, and the Cardinals can also get Peyton Siva, Terrence Jennings, and Jared Swopshire back for 2011-2012, Louisville is going to once again be back at the top of the Big East rankings.

And getting back to the top of the Big East, proving that he can still coach a winner, is the best way for Pitino to move on from this summer.

But first, he needs to get that commitment.

Time to roll out the red carpet, Louisville.


Here's a mixtape of Miller for those that like that sort of thing:



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Coaches in court

Why does it always seem like news like this comes in bunches?

Rick Pitino's trial is over, but the ordeal isn't quite finished yet. The attorney for Karen Sypher, who, if you remember, was found guilty on all six counts as a result of her extortion efforts against Pitino, has filed a motion asking for a new trial as a result of the perjury committed by one or more of the prosecution's witnesses. They have asked for 45 days to investigate. Can you imagine what would happen if Sypher was actually granted a new trial? Would we have to hear all about Quick Rick's 15 seconds of fame again?

Staying in the Big East, Bobby Gonzalez has solved one of his legal issues. Gonzo sued Seton Hall for wrongful termination after the Pirate's first round NIT loss. Gonzo said he was wrongfully terminated with two years left ton his contract. Yesterday, the two sides settled, with the terms left confidential. Gonzo still is facing charges for allegedly attempting to steal a $1,400 satchel.

And then there is Andy Kennedy. Back in 2008, Kennedy was arrested for allegedly punching and yelling racial slurs at a cab driver that refused to allow five people into his cab. Kennedy filed a defamation lawsuit which was finally settled yesterday. Apparently, all Kennedy needed was an apology from the cab driver.

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Reactions to the Sypher verdict: What is the next step for Rick Pitino?

Yesterday, Karen Sypher was found guilty on all six counts in the trial of her attempted extortion of Rick Pitino. Most estimates I have seen say that she could very well spend seven or eight years behind bars. While this won't knock the Pitino story out of my consciousness, it will knock it off of the front page.

So where does Louisville go from here? Athletic director Tom Jurich has already pledged his support for Pitino. Recruiting obviously hasn't been hurt. So what's the next step?

(Anyone with a good link, please send it my way, either via twitter or email at contactBIAH AT gmail DOT com.)


Jeff Goodman: Pitino has nowhere to go. He is stuck in Louisville. Pitino can't return to the NBA because, well, his track record in that league doesn’t justify a third go-around. His last hurrah was a 3½-year, near-catastrophe in Boston. Even the Sacramento Kings weren’t interested a year or so ago. And even worse: The guy that won a national title with Kentucky in 1996 and has taken three different programs to the Final Four couldn't land another big-time job in the college ranks these days. So he will, in all likelihood, ride it out and conclude his career in Louisville.

Jeff Eisenberg: we won't truly be able to evaluate how Pitino stands until we see how his tarnished image impacts his ability to recruit. Despite a middling 2009-10 season, modest expectations for next year and the specter of John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats down the road, Pitino actually seemed to be on the verge of reeling in a fantastic class prior to the start of the trial. Elite shooting guard Wayne Blackshear had already committed to Louisville, while fellow top prospects Quincy Miller, Josiah Turner and Deuce Bello were all listing Louisville among their leaders. The lingering question now is whether an adulterer whose sexual stamina has been ridiculed on national TV by Jay Leno can still sell his program to 17-year-old recruits and their parents. Getting back to winning at Louisville is the only way Pitino will put this scandal behind him, so that means an influx of new talent is an absolute must.

Rush the Court: Jurich and Pitino also know that there’s one thing that repairs almost any puncture to a coach’s or player’s public image — winning. Rick Pitino’s relationship with the rest of the world is that he’s a basketball coach, and if he continues to do that well, that’s all people will care about and all they’ll remember. Galleries were applauding Tiger Woods less than six months after his amazing-athlete-next-door image was carpet bombed, and they were doing it because he was fulfilling the only real obligation he had with them — the providing of entertainment in the form of top-level golf. That’s why the 2010-2011 edition of the Louisville Cardinals — to borrow one of Pitino’s superlatives — is the most important team he’ll ever coach. Winning is the ultimate salve. If he can use these tough times to help galvanize his players behind him and produce his best Cardinal team yet, despite all of the taunts and sneers he’s going too have to endure from opposing fans in the upcoming season, he could very well be the one laughing last. Karen Sypher was revealed to have said, "If I'm going down, I’m taking Pitino with me." Well, she's going down (stop laughing). What happens on the basketball court will determine whether or not she was successful in that evil mission.

Eric Crawford: What he has done in two stints in this state is to build up huge reserves of good will on and off the court. Sypher was unable to get at Pitino's bank accounts, but she put a world of hurt on those other accounts. So what does he do to rebuild them and repair the damage? Some never will be repaired. The rest will require three things: humility, time and victories.

Gary Parrish: I think we'll all agree, when we look back in 10 years, that Kentucky's John Calipari did more to hurt Rick Pitino's recruiting than Karen Sypher ever dreamed. Sypher is the worst thing to happen to Pitino's personal life, but Calipari is the worst thing to happen to Pitino's career because having to work 80 miles from Coach One-and-Done is damn-near impossible. Calipari is at the bigger program, he has all the momentum, and elite prospects with a desire to get to the NBA quickly -- i.e., the overwhelming majority of elite prospects -- genuinely do want to play for him.

Matt Jones: It took two statements from Rick Pitino to guarantee that the Sypher trial will live with him forever. Had Rick never told us that it only took him "less than 15 seconds" to be with a woman and that he completed his act "down my leg", the entire trial would have likely remained a local story, with very little long-term ramifications. However those two lines turned the affair from a "hard to cover" sports story to a national punchline. The phrase "less than 15 seconds" will be used for years for jokes about Pitino that will not only show up in opposing teams’ arenas, but on sports shows, blogs, etc. It didn't have to be like that…he could have avoided the comment because he wasn't asked directly about the amount of time the sexual encounter ended up taking. But he volunteered the information and from now on, "Quicky Ricky", "Ricky Three Pumps", "Gone in 15 Seconds", "Sticky Ricky", etc will follow Pitino everywhere he goes.

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September 4th is a big day in Louisville

Things haven't been great for Rick Pitino in Louisville of late.

I guess there's some trial going on, and there's some coach at Kentucky that's doing pretty well for himself to whom Pitino is losing recruits. Something like that, right?

Well, one month from now, Pitino has a chance to give the city of Louisville and Cardinal fans a shot of hope that they really need.

The weekend of September 4th, Deuce Bello -- the kid that can do this, and this -- will be coming to town. Bello is the consensus No. 44 recruit in the country in the class of 2011, and would be a great complement on the perimeter to Wayne Blackshear, the consensus No. 12 recruit who has already committed to Louisville.

It gets better.

Bello is very good friends with Quincy Miller, who may just end up being the top recruit in the class of 2011. They are good enough friends that Miller transferred high schools in order to play alongside Bello as a senior. Oh, and Miller will also be joining Bello on his visit to Louisville.

If things go well, then by Labor Day, Pitino and Louisville may sewn up one of the best recruiting classes in the country.

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Karen Sypher's trial began today

Its been 15 months since we first heard rumblings of Rick Pitino being extorted, and today seemingly marks the beginning of the end of this ordeal.

Karen Sypher's trial began today. She is being charged with three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI, and one count of retaliation on a witness. (Kentucky Sports Radio has a thorough breakdown of each side's opening argument argument.) The trial promises to be quite interesting (and x-rated), although it is far from an open-and-shut case:

OWill Karen Sypher end up having an effect on Pitino's ability to run the Louisville program?
(photo credit: Lexington Herald-Journal)

Sypher could win an acquittal — at least on the extortion charges — if she can convince the jury that she was wronged by Pitino on the night of Aug. 1, 2003, at Porcini Restaurant, and that her attempts to obtain compensation were justified.

"The defense will try to make it out to be a civil case — that Pitino harmed her, that she consulted an attorney (Kolter) and that he made a demand for her," said Louisville lawyer Mark Chandler, who defends white-collar crimes and drug cases.

Kristin Logan, another Louisville defense lawyer who specializes in white-collar crimes, said that when "an individual seeks out an attorney for help with a legal issue, one presumes that attorney will act within the bounds of law."

I'm not a legal expert. In fact, I find the nuances of legality -- the details that drive people to go to law school -- to be rather boring. Rick Pitino is not being charged with anything in this case, and the outcome itself is unlikely to effect his status as the head coach at Louisville. This case itself doesn't interest me much more than Lindsay Lohan's DUI trial.

What does interest me, however, is the reaction to the case; specifically, that of the Louisville Cardinals fan base and the kids that Pitino is recruiting.

Its not a secret that Pitino is far and away the second most popular coach in the Commonwealth right now. John Calipari is leading Kentucky's program is on the way back to where it was in the mid-to-late 90's, while Louisville is looking more and more like a Conference USA team, not the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, which they were is 2009.

How long is a diehard fanbase like that of Louisville going to stand for mediocrity, considering the man leading the program has admitted to what Pitino has admitted to? Very few coaches would be able to survive having information like this become public knowledge. Is Pitino one of that minority?

He may not be.

It was widely publicized when Pitino lost Marquis Teague to Kentucky. It didn't make as many headlines, but Pitino also lost Michael Chandler this summer. What was one of the best 2011 recruiting classes has lost much of its luster.

Having said that, Pitino still has a chance to put together a great class. Wayne Blackshear, a 6'5" two guard and consensus top 20 recruit, has remained loyal to the Cardinals. He's landed landed commitments from Zach Price, a 6'8" center, and Ryan Taylor, a 6'6" small forward, who both make appearances on top 100 lists. A recruiting class with three top 100 players, including a guy that could very well be a McDonalds all-american, is by no means a terrible class, but it is far from as good as it seemed just three months ago.

Louisville is also still in the hunt for a number of high-profile recruits. Quincy Miller, a 6'8" small forward who could very well end up the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2011, is heavily involved with Louisville, as is high school teammate Deuce Bello, a high-flying 6'3" guard considered a top 50 recruit. The two could very well end up a package deal.

The Cards are also still heavily involved with Kentucky native Chane Behanan, one of the hottest recruits of the summer, and have an outside shot at landing a couple of other fairly well-known recruits -- Johnny O'Bryant, Jabarie Hinds, Jakarr Sampson, Remy Abell, Nick Johnson.

The bottom line is this: Pitino's ability as a coach has not changed, and likely will not change. The question is whether or not he is going to be able to land the talent, size, and athleticism necessary for his system to be effective. In other words, is he going to be able to go into the living of a recruit's parents and tell them, straight-faced, that he will be able to teach their son how to become a man?

Rick Pitino has enough pull that he will be able to land some recruits based on the fact that he is Rick Pitino. But continues to lose out on the Chandler's and the Teague's -- especially if they head to Kentucky instead -- how understanding is Louisville going to be?

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Marquis Teague to announce tomorrow

Marquis Teague, a consensus top five talent in the class of 2011 and the younger brother of former Wake Forest star and current Atlanta Hawk guard Jeff Teague, will be announcing his college decision tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30 pm.

And it is a safe bet that the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky will be eagerly awaiting Teague's decision.

Where is Marquis Teague headed?
(photo credit: IndyHoops)

The general consensus is that Teague will be choosing between Louisville and Kentucky tomorrow. He was long considered a virtual certainty to suit up for Rick Pitino. He father played for Pitino at Boston University. Pitino hired Shabaka Lands, a former assistant at Pike High School (where Teague plays) last summer. Hell, Pitino even scheduled a trip to Butler in December of 2011, meaning that Teague would be headed back to Indianapolis for what could very well be his first road game at Louisville.

But then Coach Cal got involved. And as he is known to do, Cal made enough of an impression that no one has any clue where Teague is headed.

If Pitino lose Teague to Kentucky, it could be a very bad sign for Louisville, particularly since it would be coming on the heels of five-star center Michael Chandler's decision to re-open his recruitment. And don't forget that last summer, Pitino lost Fab Melo -- a kid most believed was headed to Louisville -- to Syracuse.

Pitino has built his class around Teague, pursuing hard since day one. He has connections to the kid's family. What kind of signal would it send if he lost Teague to his school's biggest rival and the coach he has a personal rivalry against?

"Rick Pitino and his staff need [Teague]," Scout.com's Evan Daniels told the Lexington Herald. "In fact, Teague is one of the most important prospects he's recruited since he's been at Louisville. Teague's father and uncle played for him, he's spent over two years recruiting him, and his blockbuster class in 2011 was built around Teague."

If Teague commits to Louisville, the Cardinals -- who struggled this past season and may have just lost Samardo Samuels to the NBA -- would return to the top of college basketball.

If Teague joins Big Blue Nation, I think it is safe to say that John Calipari has taken over the Bluegrass State.




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Rick Pitino to the Nets? Please...

It seems like all the talk today is about Rick Pitino thanks to this story from Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News saying, essentially, that Pitino has gone through back channels to contact the Nets brass about the head coaching position.

Depending where you look, its all but a lock that he's going, or its all but a lock he's staying in Louisville. Both Rick Pitino and Rod Thorn have both denied this rumor, already.

To be perfectly honest, I don't see this happening.

I get how things must be for him in Louisville. There's no doubt the amount of time he can spend out of the town is severely limited thanks to everything he's been through this season.

But we are talking about Pitino here. Is he really going to leave Louisville and college basketball on anything other than his terms? Do you think he wants his college basketball legacy to be "Karen Sypher and an abortion drove him to the pros"? Wouldn't jetting to the NBA now mean that John Calipari, his rival and head coach at Pitino's old school, "won"?

But the biggest reason is that he would be going to the Nets. The Nets! The worst job in the NBA. He's been down this road before, going 102-146 in four forgettable seasons with the Celtics. And remember last summer when the rumors flew about Pitino going to Sacramento?

All in all, this is a story that will likely play out after the season's done.

That said, I fully expect Pitino to be on the Louisville sideline next season.

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Rick Pitino gave Andy Katz an exclusive interview at Big East media day

Andy Katz landed an exclusive interview with Rick Pitino at the Big East media day. Here is the portion of the interview that was aired on Sportscenter.



Pitino doesn't really say anything new or interesting regarding the extortion case against Karen Sypher, harping on the fact that he is just a witness in a US attorneys case.

What was interesting to me were Pitino's comments on the lack of a suspension for Jerry Smith and Terrence Jennings.

I've busted their tails pretty stron. Suspensions, compared to what we do to the players, that's an easy way out. They would love to be suspended for a game or two compared to what I've done to them.

I believe it.
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Louisville players plead guilty, avoid jail time

Two Louisville players who were arrested for scuffling with a cop pleaded guilty in a Jeffersonville, IN, City Court.

Jerry Smith and Terrence Jennings will receive one year suspended sentences, a year of probation, and perform 40 hours of community service.

If you remember, two weeks ago the two players were arrested and charged with resisting arrest stemming from a fight at the bar Kye's. Both prospective starters this season for the Cardinals, Smith and Jennings will not miss any game time for Louisville.

Louisville has to be glad this ordeal is over, as they have plenty of distractions to deal with this season.
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Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith will not miss any game time, only face once charge

There were two new developments in the case against two Louisville basketball players. If you remember, over the weekend Jerry Smith and Terrence Jennings, both expected to start this year for the Cardinals, were arrested after a fight at Kye's, a bar in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Rick Pitino spoke with ESPN.com, telling Dana O'Neil that:

They will be punished and are being punished right now. But no, they will not miss game time.

So that settles that debate. It looks Gary Parrish was right.

The other news that came out today was that the two players would only be facing one charge stemming from the altercation - a single count each of resisting law enforcement. The police report initially stated that both Jennings and Smith would be facing multiple charges, including disorderly conduct and battery of a law enforcement official. But as Clark County prosecuting attorney Steve Stewart told the Jeffersonville Evening News:

People don't understand that police make a recommendation in the report, but the prosecutor makes the decision what charges will be filed.

Ok, so it was Stewart's decision to only file one charge each against Jennings and Smith. Understandable, I guess. The cops were off-duty and only wearing t-shirts, albeit t-shirts that said police on it.

That said, it would have been nice if Mr. Stewart had made us aware of any mitigating circumstances (h/t Rush the Court, who always do their due diligence):



I know I am insinuating a pretty serious accusation, and I know that Stewart no doubt takes his job very seriously, but lets look at the facts: Jennings got in a fight in a bar, was seen by the cops "shoving" people, was taken to the ground where he, as Pitino put it, took some "pretty good blows" and had to be tazed not once, but twice, before Smith interfered with the police to the point that he, too, was arrested. Should I mention that Jennings, who doesn't turn 21 until Nov. 2nd, also had alcohol in his system?

Maybe witnesses came forward that said Jennings didn't deserve the second jolt of electricity. Maybe Stewart was trying to avoid excessive force accusations against these cops. Maybe the fact that they were off-duty played a factor.

But isn't it possible that Stewart didn't want to see two starters from the same school he received his law degree get a couple extra charges?

To be fair, I spoke with someone who works as a prosecuting attorney in Connecticut (different laws than Indiana, but same premise), and they said that many attorneys don't like to charge a person with more than one crime for a single event. Instead of assuming that Stewart gave these kids a break because he went to Louisville's law school, my guess is that Stewart took this as a single event; that it wasn't fair to pile on extra charges for one offense. Apparently, this is a pretty standard procedure, so I think that Stewart should be given the benefit of the doubt.

The bigger issue is that Pitino won't make these two miss any game time. If "any time you defy a police officer, it's serious", as Pitino was quoted as saying, then shouldn't these two players be punished for their defiance of a police officer?

If scuffling with some cops doesn't get you at least a game suspension, what does?

Again, if we are going to be fair, there is some precedence. In July of 2008, West Virginia point guard Joe Mazzulla was arrested for a very similar offense - he and a teammate got into it with a couple off-duty cops at a Pittsburgh Pirates game. They didn't miss any game time in 2008-2009 season as a result. Mazzulla was arrested again this past spring, and while he was suspended indefinitely from team activities over the summer, he has since been reinstated and won't miss any game time this season.
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UPDATE: Louisville's Jerry Smith and Terrence Jennings arrested

Because this off-season hasn't been bad enough for the Louisville Cardinals (although it pales in comparison to what Kansas and Binghamton have gone through).

Last night, sophomore center Terrence Jennings and senior guard Jerry Smith were arrested out Kye's, a restaurant in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where they attended a university alumni event. From WAVE 3 in Louisville:

Police say there was a party at Kye's in Jeffersonville, where Jennings was involved in a fight. According to police, Jennings resisted off duty officers who were investigating the fight. He was charged with resisting arrest, a Class "A" misdemeanor.

Jeffersonville police say Smith then got involved, and despite repeated orders from police to stay away, didn't. He was arrested and also charged with resisting, as well as interfering with law enforcement.

Both men were booked into the Clark County Jail, but have already posted the five thousand dollar bond.

And Pitino was having such a good year.

Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith were arrested early Sunday morning.
(photo credit: Rush the Court)

In all seriousness, I don't see Smith or Jennings getting a suspension of more than a game or two. Louisville's off-season troubles were not due to mistakes that the players made (like in Brady Morningstar's situation), and in the grand scheme of things, a misdemeanor arrest is not all that big of a deal. Rick Pitino was quoted as saying "we are aware of the situation and will be handling it internally", which is a fancy way of saying that Jennings and Smith will be spending a lot of time running sprints after practice.

I think the bigger concern is that both players are expected to be starters for this Cardinal team, while Smith will be a senior leader in the back court. Is this the example you want Smith setting for guys like Peyton Siva.

UPDATE: Apparently, police had to use a taser to subdue Jennings. But would anyone be surprised? Jennings is 6'10" and 230 lb of muscle. That's a big boy. Continue reading...

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree

At Louisville's annual tip-off luncheon in front of a crowd of 1,100 people, Rick Pitino insisted he's having one of the best year's of his life.

...

Really?

...

I'm not even going to comment on this. I'm just going to link you here, here, here, here, here, here, and show you this (h/t Luke Winn):



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