I think it is a little presumptuous for us to say that there are only five/six jobs in the country for which he would leave. We have terrible facilities. We have very little tradition. We have terrible weather. It isn't the easiest place to recruit to. We have no idea what the wife thinks of Minnesota -- she's not just along for the ride. We know what Pitino says publicly, but we really have no idea what he actually feels about the situation.
Not trying to be doom and gloom. I'm not predicting that he will leave, but I think it's a little crazy to say he's locked up for the next ten years. Time will tell.
I think you're far too negative. We have the potential to become a very competitive program. We have strong academics, one of the more attractive metropolitan areas in the country, and the only D1 school in the state. The quality of Minnesota high school basketball has improved significantly over the years, and we have some momentum thanks to wining the NIT. Our weather might be an issue for a certain percentage of recruits, but there are many successful basketball programs located in parts of the country with weather that is not much different than ours. That includes, for example, Syracuse, Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin. Moreover, Minnesota's weather tends to be very nice in the summer and fall. Something that is not true in the south. I live in Virginia and one of my friends once said, every summer, I remember that there is a worse season here than winter. I've spent time in Florida during the summer and I personally don't think Minnesota winters are any worse than Florida summers. Okay, you don't play basketball in the summer, but you don't play basketball outdoors. Our Achilles heal, in my opinion, is the lack of a modern practice facility, but I'm optimistic that we will fix this. Someone, and perhaps it was you, was pessimistic that we would do so citing the difficulties Minnesota has had in building other sports facilities. But the fact that in a relatively short period of time Minnesota has built a new Twins baseball stadium, a new UM football stadium, a new UM baseball facility, and is building a new Vikings stadium, suggests quite the contrary. The kind of opposition Minnesota experienced in those projects is not unique. Its fairly common across the country, but in Minnesota that opposition has been overcome. More significantly, in my opinion, is what I believe is the commitment of Eric Kaler and Norwood Teague to upgrade our Basketball and Football programs. That kind of administrative support is something we haven't had for at least 50 years when the University decided to de-emphasize these sports.
Richard Pitino may decide at some point to move on, but I think he can build a successful program here and that his stated goal to stay here is not unrealistic.
I respect your right to express your opinions, but I'm personally disappointed every time I see a post that essentially suggests Minnesota is unlikely to ever be competitive in basketball or football. I strongly believe that if we can increase our investment in these sports, we can become a perennial competitor for the Big Ten title in both of these sports. We were national football champions when I was a student at the U, and that was our seventh title. I'm confident that we can do it again. It may take some time, but some positive fan support would help.
