Rick Pitino Biography

Richard Andrew “Rick” Pitino is an American basketball coach who has the honor of being the only men’s coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools—Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville—to a Final Four. He also led Kentucky and Louisville to an NCAA National Championship, which again is a record in NCAA history. A career in basketball seemed to be the most natural choice for the talented man who had always loved the game. As a teenager he captained the basketball team of his school, St. Dominic High School. He played as a standout guard for the UMass Minutemen basketball team during his time at the University of Massachusetts. He became a coach after his college days and his first coaching job was as a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii. The Boston University hired him as the head coach for its faltering team and he led them to their first NCAA appearance in 24 years. His career began picking up and soon lucrative coaching offers began pouring in. He worked at the Providence College and the University of Kentucky before becoming the head coach at the University of Louisville where he has been serving since 2001. In addition to his coaching career, he is also an author and motivational speaker.