Pitino has made millions over the past 4 years.
in the process he’s proven to be a pretty bad coach.
Take this year for instance, specifically how he manages the roles across the team.
Marcus (and to a similar degree Jamal) ... take bad shots, dribble endlessly, play bad defense ... call them out as team leader. Marcus has hit some huge shots but over the course of the year his play has been awful for a team that needs continuity (words directly fromPitino).
How he lets Marcus get away with such bad defense sets a crappy tone for the other guys.
Gach, Ihnen, Williams,and probably some others ... miss a defensive assignment or read they get pulled or ripped as they go to the other end of the court. Then Pitino uses sarcastic humor in interviews to talk about their shooting. Kids don’t understand his humor especially when they watch their team leader take quite a few terrible shots over the course of a game and play half-effort defense.
Personally, I’m sure the guys get along well.
During the course of a game, I’m also sure some guys are saying ”screw you coach if your going get all over me and not hold other guys accountable”.
I've only got 3 maybe 4 players I'd be disappointed if they left with a coaching change. The rest are a see ya for me.
Bad coach does not develop the guys he recruits (many get worse year to year) and the kids are the problem when the coach makes millions ... I’m more worried about what talent was wasted and I would love to see them all kids have great careers. If that’s here or somewhere else doesn’t matter. In a different setting, I would not be surprised to see them all be much better than they’ve shown here playing for Pitino. Just over the course of this year, Marcus has played himself out of the All Big Ten First Team.