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View Full Version : Pitino on the Dan Patrick show this morning



rsvman
04-05-2018, 10:32 AM
Did anybody else catch this interview? I'll sum up what he said as briefly as I can.

1) Louisville fired him in a "rush to judgment" that was completely unfair and amounted to "railroading"

2) He has never "paid five bucks" to a player, nor would he ever even consider it

3) He had no idea that anybody had paid Bowen; it made sense to him to land Bowen based on what the family had told him about how the other schools he wanted to go to (Mich St, Ariz) didn't work out

4) He is 100% sure "in his heart" that Larranaga is innocent

5) College basketball is 90% "clean"

6) He took a lie detector test as soon as the accusations came about the Bowen thing; it was administered by an expert, a guy who "teaches others how to do lie detector testing" and he passed it

7) He had no idea about the stripper thing, and had nothing to do with it, even though he spent a lot more time in that dorm than any other college coach spends in dorms

8) He watched twitter, facebook, snapchat, etc and followed every social media post of all his players and his prospective players "every day" and there was never a hint about any of that "reprehensible" activity

9) He was not asked about the Rhode Island job. He did discuss coaching for one college, but ultimately they decided against him because of the FBI investigation. He doubts he can ever coach in college again, even though he never did anything wrong at all

10) He will eventually be "proven innocent" but nobody will care

Dan pushed him pretty hard. He even asked him if he thought he would "believe himself" if he were not himself, and Pitino said that he would not.

It was pretty interesting.

left_hook_lacey
04-05-2018, 10:38 AM
Did anybody else catch this interview? I'll sum up what he said as briefly as I can.

1) Louisville fired him in a "rush to judgment" that was completely unfair and amounted to "railroading"

2) He has never "paid five bucks" to a player, nor would he ever even consider it

3) He had no idea that anybody had paid Bowen; it made sense to him to land Bowen based on what the family had told him about how the other schools he wanted to go to (Mich St, Ariz) didn't work out

4) He is 100% sure "in his heart" that Larranaga is innocent

5) College basketball is 90% "clean"

6) He took a lie detector test as soon as the accusations came about the Bowen thing; it was administered by an expert, a guy who "teaches others how to do lie detector testing" and he passed it

7) He had no idea about the stripper thing, and had nothing to do with it, even though he spent a lot more time in that dorm than any other college coach spends in dorms

8) He watched twitter, facebook, snapchat, etc and followed every social media post of all his players and his prospective players "every day" and there was never a hint about any of that "reprehensible" activity

9) He was not asked about the Rhode Island job. He did discuss coaching for one college, but ultimately they decided against him because of the FBI investigation. He doubts he can ever coach in college again, even though he never did anything wrong at all

10) He will eventually be "proven innocent" but nobody will care

Dan pushed him pretty hard. He even asked him if he thought he would "believe himself" if he were not himself, and Pitino said that he would not.

It was pretty interesting.

I have gotten into a habit of watching, or actually listening to the Dan Patrick show podcast on my commute home. There's a reason the show just got nominated for a sports Emmy, they do a solid job. He is great in interviews. You should listen to his poignant interview with Johnny Manziel on yesterday's show.

It sounds to me like Rick P. is desperate to try to land his next and final job, anywhere. He doesn't want to go out like this.

flyingdutchdevil
04-05-2018, 10:39 AM
Did anybody else catch this interview? I'll sum up what he said as briefly as I can.

1) Louisville fired him in a "rush to judgment" that was completely unfair and amounted to "railroading"

2) He has never "paid five bucks" to a player, nor would he ever even consider it

3) He had no idea that anybody had paid Bowen; it made sense to him to land Bowen based on what the family had told him about how the other schools he wanted to go to (Mich St, Ariz) didn't work out

4) He is 100% sure "in his heart" that Larranaga is innocent

5) College basketball is 90% "clean"

6) He took a lie detector test as soon as the accusations came about the Bowen thing; it was administered by an expert, a guy who "teaches others how to do lie detector testing" and he passed it

7) He had no idea about the stripper thing, and had nothing to do with it, even though he spent a lot more time in that dorm than any other college coach spends in dorms

8) He watched twitter, facebook, snapchat, etc and followed every social media post of all his players and his prospective players "every day" and there was never a hint about any of that "reprehensible" activity

9) He was not asked about the Rhode Island job. He did discuss coaching for one college, but ultimately they decided against him because of the FBI investigation. He doubts he can ever coach in college again, even though he never did anything wrong at all

10) He will eventually be "proven innocent" but nobody will care

Dan pushed him pretty hard. He even asked him if he thought he would "believe himself" if he were not himself, and Pitino said that he would not.

It was pretty interesting.

I'm confused. Did Pitino think he did something wrong? :p

Bluedog
04-05-2018, 10:49 AM
Thanks for the summary. Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually believe Pitino. Having said that, I think one could easily argue that Pitino SHOULD have known about those things and the fact that he didn't speaks about his lack of ability to lead the program. Assuming that's the case, it could still be a fireable offense as ignorance is not always a solid defense, but it certainly makes it seem less sleazy/illegal. I do think there is always a rush to judgment in these types of cases. I don't understand really why Pitino gets totally crushed, but other coaches basically skate. Not like Izzo came out looking great either, but beyond a few reporter questions (which he stated he would refuse to answer so they stopped), basically nothing happened. And there was a case of alleged sexual assault by his player's there that got a story on ESPN, but didn't gain traction. So, yeah, I do kinda feel bad for Pitino and think he got somewhat of a raw deal, but he likely should have been more pro-active in finding things out/getting a pulse on his program so it didn't come to this.

dyedwab
04-05-2018, 10:50 AM
The really frustrating thing about Pitino is that he doesn't get that "I didn't know" any of that is actually an indictment of his running the program, not an exoneration.

IT'S HIS PROGRAM. He's in charge. When bad things happen when you are in charge, it's your job to take responsibility. And when more than one bad thing happen, maybe perhaps your leadership is lacking.

DC Chak
04-05-2018, 11:00 AM
I think Pitino knows that his professed lack of knowledge of the misdeeds that occurred in his program is a direct indictment of him, much like it was of JoePa. I also think, like JoePa, it's the best argument he can make to try to rehabilitate himself at this point, so that's the argument he's gonna make.

FWIW, I'm agnostic as to whether Pitino actually knew more than he lets on today. As for JoePa, because he was so close to Sandusky for so long, and because he kept him at such a high level within the program until he abruptly dropped him, I'm pretty certain he knew much more of the details of the misdeeds than he claimed before passing away.

Saratoga2
04-05-2018, 11:20 AM
The really frustrating thing about Pitino is that he doesn't get that "I didn't know" any of that is actually an indictment of his running the program, not an exoneration.

IT'S HIS PROGRAM. He's in charge. When bad things happen when you are in charge, it's your job to take responsibility. And when more than one bad thing happen, maybe perhaps your leadership is lacking.

I can't swallow any of Pitino's excuses. As you say, he should have known. My view is he did. Remember his incident in the bar after hours. He was full of excuses about that as well. Good riddance to him and let him act the fool in these interviews.

Dev11
04-05-2018, 12:05 PM
5) College basketball is 90% "clean"


Thinking critically, I wouldn't consider this "good enough." There are 350 D1 programs, each with 13 scholarships, which comes to 4,550 athletes. "Only" 455 players are getting some kind of impermissible benefit? That's lumping in the schools that don't even have the ability to engage in stuff like that. If you remove those schools, that 4,550 number goes down but the 455 probably doesn't. That's a lot of pay for play! Not that I mind players getting their fair share, but if we're trying to maintain the facade of amateurism, this isn't acceptable.



Dan pushed him pretty hard. He even asked him if he thought he would "believe himself" if he were not himself, and Pitino said that he would not.


There's the saddest part of the whole thing. Pitino may be trying to find work and he may he innocent, but he knows he's probably at the end of his rope. If he's right that he'll be vindicated through all of this, that's quite the tragedy. I'm not shedding tears for the guy, but I recognize his humanity and can be sympathetic.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-05-2018, 02:08 PM
Thinking critically, I wouldn't consider this "good enough." .....

There's the saddest part of the whole thing. Pitino may be trying to find work and he may he innocent, but he knows he's probably at the end of his rope. If he's right that he'll be vindicated through all of this, that's quite the tragedy. I'm not shedding tears for the guy, but I recognize his humanity and can be sympathetic.

On your first point, I agree, but to clarify, I don't think Pitino was saying 90% was good enough...I took it to mean people are reacting like it's 90-10 the other way.....wide spread, rampant, everywhere. FWIW that's my read on that comment.

As for your second statement, well said, and that's about where I am. I don't love the guy, and I'm not sure I believe him, but losing a job, reputation, whatever over a false accusation is something no one should endure.

Ian
04-05-2018, 02:14 PM
I can't swallow any of Pitino's excuses. As you say, he should have known. My view is he did. Remember his incident in the bar after hours. He was full of excuses about that as well. Good riddance to him and let him act the fool in these interviews.

I remember rumors of Pitino at Providence in the 80's where after a big win he took his players to strip clubs and gave them dollar bills to the stuff in the dancers' underwear. This is nothing new for him. He may not have know the exact details to protecte himself but he knew the gist of what was going on with his assistants.

JasonEvans
04-05-2018, 02:56 PM
So, if I was interviewing him, here is what I would say to Pitino.

"Rick, you say you knew nothing about the payments to Bowen or any other player. You say that if that stuff is untrue, you deserve a second chance to coach. So, here is an idea. Would you be willing to put $5 million in a trust with the understanding that if there is a tape or an email -- definitive proof -- that shows you were aware of payments to players, the $5 million would immediately be donated to _____ (pick a good charity)? Doing something like that would really show that you are serious about clearing your name and might help convince some other school to let you coach again."

-Jason "when he hemmed and hawed about actually doing it, we would know where the truth lies" Evans

sagegrouse
04-05-2018, 04:16 PM
I think Pitino knows that his professed lack of knowledge of the misdeeds that occurred in his program is a direct indictment of him, much like it was of JoePa. I also think, like JoePa, it's the best argument he can make to try to rehabilitate himself at this point, so that's the argument he's gonna make.

FWIW, I'm agnostic as to whether Pitino actually knew more than he lets on today. As for JoePa, because he was so close to Sandusky for so long, and because he kept him at such a high level within the program until he abruptly dropped him, I'm pretty certain he knew much more of the details of the misdeeds than he claimed before passing away.

Perhaps recruiting was not a team process under Pitino -- perhaps the individual recruiters were under extraordinary pressures to bring in top recruits. But also were told to follow the rules. Well, sometimes, sumpthin's gotta give.

Under these hypothetical circumstances, the wrong would fall totally on Pitino. You MUST supervise your staff -- especially when there are only three assistants. "Not knowing" is unbelievably inept and self-incriminating.

NSDukeFan
04-05-2018, 04:49 PM
The really frustrating thing about Pitino is that he doesn't get that "I didn't know" any of that is actually an indictment of his running the program, not an exoneration.

IT'S HIS PROGRAM. He's in charge. When bad things happen when you are in charge, it's your job to take responsibility. And when more than one bad thing happen, maybe perhaps your leadership is lacking.

That's true, except according to the NCAA and UNC?

JetpackJesus
04-05-2018, 05:31 PM
Thinking critically, I wouldn't consider this "good enough." There are 350 D1 programs, each with 13 scholarships, which comes to 4,550 athletes. "Only" 455 players are getting some kind of impermissible benefit? That's lumping in the schools that don't even have the ability to engage in stuff like that. If you remove those schools, that 4,550 number goes down but the 455 probably doesn't. That's a lot of pay for play! Not that I mind players getting their fair share, but if we're trying to maintain the facade of amateurism, this isn't acceptable.

To be fair, UNC makes up 90% of the the 10% that isn't clean.

MartyClark
04-05-2018, 05:48 PM
I have a couple of friends connected to the Louisville program. They seem to believe Pitino's claims of innocence. One wonders how Kevin Keatts has escaped scrutiny on the "dancers in the dorm" scandal.

I think the buck stopped with Pitino on the dorm stuff. He knew or should have known what was going on.

The Brian Bowen stuff is a bit more mysterious to me and I can't connect the dots on this one. A tape recording or two would probably solve the uncertainty.

BD80
04-05-2018, 06:23 PM
Perhaps recruiting was not a team process under Pitino -- perhaps the individual recruiters were under extraordinary pressures to bring in top recruits. But also were told to follow the rules. Well, sometimes, sumpthin's gotta give.

Under these hypothetical circumstances, the wrong would fall totally on Pitino. You MUST supervise your staff -- especially when there are only three assistants. "Not knowing" is unbelievably inept and self-incriminating.

Pitino was not a "coach" as much as a CEO of a multi-million dollar entertainment enterprise. He was paid millions of dollars per year to run the enterprise, which included supervising his assistants who were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. He also had the ability to hire "non-coaching" assistants to supervise compliance and the players' daily lives and academics.

Under this type of analysis, how can Pitino not be held accountable?

Ian
04-05-2018, 07:09 PM
Pitino was not a "coach" as much as a CEO of a multi-million dollar entertainment enterprise. He was paid millions of dollars per year to run the enterprise, which included supervising his assistants who were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. He also had the ability to hire "non-coaching" assistants to supervise compliance and the players' daily lives and academics.

Under this type of analysis, how can Pitino not be held accountable?


If he didn't know, it's because he didn't want to know, which means he knew what kind of stuff they were doing but didn't know the specific details so he can later claim to "not know" if they were caught.

MCFinARL
04-06-2018, 08:31 AM
Leaving aside the other stuff, recent reporting about the FBI investigation suggests Pitino may be right that he is innocent of paying players--and about Jim Larranaga as well. According to a Washington Post report (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/instead-of-paying-players-to-go-to-miami-and-louisville-he-kept-the-money-the-fbi-let-him-go/2018/04/04/b7f0d510-3755-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html?utm_term=.2a119a446e98), charges have been dismissed against one of the key figures in the investigation, Brad Augustine, because he apparently was keeping the money he requested for players and their families for himself--and was claiming connections to coaches at Louisville and Miami that he didn't really have.

Interestingly (still according to the article), this scam doesn't concern the Justice Dept. because the theory of their investigation and case is that the victims are the schools--because they have been duped into giving scholarships to ineligible players. But if the players didn't get the money, the schools aren't hurt.

Looked at from this angle, some of these allegations seem about as substantial as the claim that Wendell Carter had been "paid" because his mother met an agent for lunch--and left before eating.

UrinalCake
04-06-2018, 10:34 AM
I thought he already said most of this stuff when he was interviewed by Bilas shortly after getting fired? At the time he was negotiating his buyout from the school and trying to recoup as much of his contract as possible. I wish the FBI would go ahead and release everything they have, it would make it a lot easier to sort things out. If they have him on a wiretap like the reports claim, then there’s not really any room for debate.

MCFinARL
04-06-2018, 01:26 PM
I thought he already said most of this stuff when he was interviewed by Bilas shortly after getting fired? At the time he was negotiating his buyout from the school and trying to recoup as much of his contract as possible. I wish the FBI would go ahead and release everything they have, it would make it a lot easier to sort things out. If they have him on a wiretap like the reports claim, then there’s not really any room for debate.

Well, but that depends on what they have on the wiretap. Again according to the same article I linked above, Larranaga admits talking to Adidas employee Gatto about Shamir Little--but not about any arrangements to pay him or his family, just about the player and how he might fit in at Miami (an Adidas school).

Dukerulz
04-06-2018, 04:20 PM
To be fair, UNC makes up 90% of the the 10% that isn't clean.

I recommend that Pitino hire the Holes legal team to represent him against FBI and NCAA. Their strategy to lie about what happened over two decades, deny that academic fraud was committed, and rely on an inept and neutered NCAA to challenge them in any way was brilliant. With that legal team in place Pitino could have paid his players while they were snorting Adderall with hookers at his rental house and the NCAA would find no fault with it.