- His record (entering the 2009-2010 season): 552-197. His .731 winning percentage is tenth among active coaches.
- Joins Lefty Drisell, Eddie Sutton, and Jim Harrick among coaches who have taken four schools to the NCAA Tournament. Pitino accomplished this with Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville. He is the only coach ever to take three teams (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville) to the Final Four, winning a title in '96 with Kentucky.
- Coached professionally with the New York Knicks (1988-1989) and the Boston Celtics, where he also assumed the role of President. He left after a disastrous sub-500 season.
- Attended and played college basketball at the University of Massachusetts, where he was a teammate of Julius Erving.
- His brother-in-law, Billy Minardi, whom he considered his best friend, was killed in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Minardi, an equities trader for Cantor Fitzgerald, worked on the 104th floor of Tower 1.
- In March 1987, his son Daniel died at six months of congenital heart failure.
- In his next to last season as head coach of the Boston Celtics, he had an infamous rant in which he criticized the Boston fans and media for their negativity and unrealistic expectations. Among others things, he said, "Larry Bird is not walking through that door..." That rant is frequently quoted by sportswriters and the media when a team's glory days have ended.
- Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
- Head coach at University of Louisville 2001-2017.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content