WCCO: Source: Gophers Express Interest In Rich Pitino

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Ls2 said:
Born and raised in the quiet town of Perham. So that actually means I'm within 30 miles of like 4 or 5 of them.
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My mother and sister (and family) are in Perham. Mom lives just a mile or 2 from Zorbaz, and my sister across the lake, so we make sure to go there when in town. Mouth is watering just thinking about it. (Grew up in DL, so got to that one plenty back in the day, too.)
 

Can't hate on it. I mean, if you're gonna whiff on major prospects, a young energetic guy who's gonna put his full effort into it, and also has the pedigree isn't the worst idea ever.

The other element of this is that his style is similar to what Tubby's been trying to do here as well. Seeing that they fall from the same coaching tree, Pitino might be more equipped to handle the current roster than a lot of guys due to some of the same teaching he's seen. If you watch that video, he sounded a lot like Tubby honestly. But he's about 30 years younger, and may have more energy for this job (which is a definite need for a place like Minnesota) to do the recruiting needed and also may just flat out relate to the players better, maybe get more out of them.

I just wanna see the team improve over the year really. The annual February swoons were just hard to watch, and it didn't seem to matter how much talent was on the team. I'd sacrifice a couple non conference wins to see them produce when the grind of the conference play hits.
 

Nate said:
Interesting from RandBall, maybe he was a target from the get go?

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I think we have found out that everyone and their grandmother was in Indy that weekend. What's the complete list? Flip, Dwayne Stephens, Richard Pitino, Brad Stevens, any others? I'm sure I'm forgetting a few that Teague has been linked to.
 

Bad Gopher said:
My mother and sister (and family) are in Perham. Mom lives just a mile or 2 from Zorbaz, and my sister across the lake, so we make sure to go there when in town. Mouth is watering just thinking about it. (Grew up in DL, so got to that one plenty back in the day, too.)
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Wait!What? Are you guys turning "Christian Mingle" into "Zorba's Mingle"?
 


I'm already to the point where I'm going to be devastated if we don't hire this kid. :D
 


I wouldn't mind having Rich Pitino. You people have to realize that we have tried to go after the better coaches and none have wanted to come here... Eventually, you have to go to the younger up-and-coming coaches who have nothing to lose. The job he did at Florida International was spectacular. Rich won with less... not like Tubby, losing with the most talented team he's had here. Take a chance!
 






Bad Gopher said:
My mother and sister (and family) are in Perham. Mom lives just a mile or 2 from Zorbaz, and my sister across the lake, so we make sure to go there when in town. Mouth is watering just thinking about it. (Grew up in DL, so got to that one plenty back in the day, too.)
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And here I thought I was one of the few northerners. Macho Nachos for the win.

@station19 you are correct. About a half mile north of the country club

@everybodyelse Sorry for not staying on topic...so for that

I'd actually be fairly pumped if Pitino was named as the next HC of the Gophers. Sure he is young and might not have the head coaching experience that some other coaches would, but I think he is exactly what we need. A younger coach that can relate to the players and inject a little excitement (not going as far as Rice though). To me, although only for one year, what he did at FIU with only 3 scholarship players when arriving speaks wonders about his coaching and motivation. My jury is still out on his recruiting efforts, but if he can develop players he won't need to go out and land all 5-star recruits to compete with the other teams in the Big Ten. Don't get me wrong, bringing in a 5* recruit would be a blessing, but bringing in the right players and developing them is more important than just bringing in a name.
 




MadtownGopher said:
Why are we comparing Ryan and Richard? Richard has been a head coach and did a damn good job. The Flip-natics need to give up on him, he's not going to coach here. Either get on board with the rest of us or go follow Flip to the next NBA job he takes.
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NOBODY is comparing Rich and Ryan as they look right now. And NOBODY is saying that hiring Rich would equal nepotism. That discussion has focused on whether Rich got any more career help than Ryan has or could.
 

cemba99 said:
I can see your point - but John Thompson III seems to be doing well at GT - on the other hand, Joey Meyer always seemed to have the ghost of his dad hanging over his head
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I always thought that the public school system had gotten so bad he couldn't get local kids into DePaul. IIinois was getting players from Peoria. Also, the area around the Rosemount Horizon kept me from taking my kids to the games.
 

Bad Gopher said:
A good thought, and a nice takeoff on the analogy. I was merely saying don't let his age freak you out. Of course, as you say, resume is another matter. I would reply, though, and make the point that Enfield's team's accomplishment of getting hot at the right time is a different deal than FIU's setting a program record for conference wins - and with a depleted roster to boot. I look at that and I say, whoa, did I read that right?
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Yep, that was my reaction too.
 

Barreiro tweet:

My source: Teague & Ellis cancelled plans to interview 1 other candidate to lock down Richard Pitino.1:20pm*&^!#- 3 Apr 13
 

Hates Monikers said:
NOBODY is comparing Rich and Ryan as they look right now. And NOBODY is saying that hiring Rich would equal nepotism. That discussion has focused on whether Rich got any more career help than Ryan has or could.
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Again, why are we even discussing this? It's just the Flip-natics' way of undermining another candidate and complaining that we didn't hire Flip. There is absolutely no reason to be talking about Ryan Saunders in this thread.
 

jaymil said:
Barreiro tweet:

My source: Teague & Ellis cancelled plans to interview 1 other candidate to lock down Richard Pitino.1:20pm*&^!#- 3 Apr 13
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Interesting from Barreiro.
 

jaymil said:
Barreiro tweet:

My source: Teague & Ellis cancelled plans to interview 1 other candidate to lock down Richard Pitino.1:20pm*&^!#- 3 Apr 13
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Hmmm...so perhaps this is legit...
 

If this is true, i like it. A more experienced Enfield, which is exactly the kind of coaches we should be looking for imho.
 

I recant what I said earlier about Enfield, when I said that I predict we'd come out of this wishing we'd hired Enfield instead. There's no guarantees Pitino will be successful (or even mediocre), but he's a hire you can sell and that people will be excited about.
 

jaymil said:
Barreiro tweet:

My source: Teague & Ellis cancelled plans to interview 1 other candidate to lock down Richard Pitino.1:20pm*&^!#- 3 Apr 13
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Little question in my mind they're now worried about Rutgers acing them out. They want Pitino.
 

jaymil said:
Barreiro tweet:

My source: Teague & Ellis cancelled plans to interview 1 other candidate to lock down Richard Pitino.1:20pm*&^!#- 3 Apr 13
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Good move. Hone in and nail him now. Get 'er done.
 

Oh and quit worrying about him having a good year over at Williams and then heading out of town. We've already been assured that any new coach will come with a $5 million buyout. Hope that doesn't kill this deal too. :eek:
 

A retweet from Phil Mackey:

RT @rickbozich: Word around U of L is Richard Pitino in negotiations with Minnesota...

Looks like it's nearly a done deal with the other tweets
 


Ls2 said:
A retweet from Phil Mackey:

RT @rickbozich: Word around U of L is Richard Pitino in negotiations with Minnesota...

Looks like it's nearly a done deal with the other tweets
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F'in right!
 



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