Rick Pitino is headed overseas to continue his basketball coaching career, and has reached a deal with the Greek team Panathinkaikos.
ESPN reported the following details Thursday:
Rick Pitino has agreed to a deal to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos of Greece for the rest of the season, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN on Thursday.
Pitino, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is expected to coach his first game on Dec. 27.
Pitino’s goal is to return to the NBA as a head coach, and his hope is that the Panathinaikos job can be a steppingstone to achieving that.
Well, I certainly didn’t expect to wake up today to find the disgraced Louisville coach running a team on a different continent. Pitino was run out of Louisville so fast a year ago that it would make your head spin.
One moment he was at the top of the college coaching world, and the next he was shown the exit door amid an FBI investigation. (RELATED: Duke Star Zion Williamson Puts On A Dunking Clinic In Latest Game. Watch The Majestic Highlights)
There had been some rumors about him getting another job at a D1 school, but that obviously never came to fruition.
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I have no idea if going to Greece is a great idea or if it’ll help him get back to coaching in college or the NBA. I do know there are several great teams in Europe, and Panathinkaikos is one of the best.
Perhaps, if he crushes it overseas, then a mid-major school or a desperate NBA team will offer him deal. There’s no question he knows his basketball Xs and Os. That’s never been up for debate.
The question is whether or not, despite all the accomplishments, he is too toxic to employ in America at this point. As we all know, winning solves everything in sports. If he can win a ton overseas, then I could see him getting another shot in the USA.