NCAA Tourney

[Anti-Homer]

Miller and the Longhorns move on to the Sweet 16 out here in San Jose. Three wins in 5 days. Swain was outstanding in the second half. You have to wonder how long it will take Pitino to get three tournament wins?

In one NCAA Tournament? Or for his career?

Coach Pitino in 14 years of Coaching has taken his teams to the Tournament a total of four times. His overall record is 2-4. Underwhelming in my view. His 2016-17 Minnesota Team may have even broken your bracket as a #5 Seed, losing to #12 Middle Tennessee State 81-72. His career has been far more sizzle than steak.

Chitown,

On paper you're right, his record is underwhelming. However, I think in large part, it was due to him spending most of his career at Minnesota, a coach's graveyard (plus one year at FIU). He only got them to the Tourney twice in 8 years, but Minnesota has only made it four times total in the last 30 years, so he definitely exceeded the trend there.

At New Mexico, he made the Tourney twice in four years. For perspective, they had only gone 11 times in the previous 40 years. I would also venture to guess tht they were underdogs in pretty much every Tourney game they played, including two years ago when they knocked off a 3-seed Marquette.

I actually thought he did a better job this year than the record shows. The two guys everyone was hyped about barely contributed: Pozzatto was injured the whole year, and Robinson (their highest-paid player after Pozzatto) wasn't ready for prime time. Meanwhile, basically every other player on the roster made huge strides.

I really like his offense and philosophy and how he made adjustments. I'm obviously more bullish on him than you are. However, with about $12M in NIL coming in, this should definitely be a Tourney year for us.

[ChitownSteve]

AH - Not intending to be terse. System has lost my lengthier replies twice (are you an Administrator )?

Minnesota: Tubby Smith - 2007-13 - Three NCAA appearances in six seasons; .605 overall winning percentage, .426 in the Big Ten
Richard Pitino 2014-21 - Two NCAA appearances in eight seasons; .534 overall winning percentage, .360 in the Big Ten

New Mexico : Steve Alford, 2007-13 - Three NCAA appearances in six seasons, four regular season Conference Championships, two Conference Tournament Titles, .749 winning percentage.
Richard Pitino, 2021-2025 - Two NCAA appearances in four seasons, one regular season Conference Championship, one Conference Tournament Title, .642 winning percentage.

Both Dave Bliss at New Mexico and Clem “the Gem” Haskins at Minnesota crushed Pitino in NCAA appearances in the 1988-1999 periods with 7 and 6 respectively. Let’s dig into history and comparable coaches.

Hope you are right about Coach Pitino for the 2026-27 season! That’s what we all want. That said, I remain unimpressed by his history when stacked up with high profile Coaches at the same schools. Plus, even if he is successful …. Isn’t St. John’s his end game …. and Greg Christopher in his desperation being used?

[Anti-Homer]

AH - Not intending to be terse. System has lost my lengthier replies twice (are you an Administrator )?

Minnesota: Tubby Smith - 2007-13 - Three NCAA appearances in six seasons; .605 overall winning percentage, .426 in the Big Ten
Richard Pitino 2014-21 - Two NCAA appearances in eight seasons; .534 overall winning percentage, .360 in the Big Ten

New Mexico : Steve Alford, 2007-13 - Three NCAA appearances in six seasons, four regular season Conference Championships, two Conference Tournament Titles, .749 winning percentage.
Richard Pitino, 2021-2025 - Two NCAA appearances in four seasons, one regular season Conference Championship, one Conference Tournament Title, .642 winning percentage.

Both Dave Bliss at New Mexico and Clem “the Gem” Haskins at Minnesota crushed Pitino in NCAA appearances in the 1988-1999 periods with 7 and 6 respectively. Let’s dig into history and comparable coaches.

Hope you are right about Coach Pitino for the 2026-27 season! That’s what we all want. That said, I remain unimpressed by his history when stacked up with high profile Coaches at the same schools. Plus, even if he is successful …. Isn’t St. John’s his end game …. and Greg Christopher in his desperation being used?

Chitown,

That's good context. I took the lazy route and just queried ChatGPT concerning Pitino's record over a long stretch. I'm still bullish on him. He's not as defensible on paper as most high-major coaches, but I liked what I saw from him at New Mexico and especially at X last year.

I do agree that he'll probably bolt from X the second he gets a shot to succeed Sr. at St. John's, and I wouldn't blame him. I just want him to leave the program in a better position than when he arrived, as Miller did.

BTW, I'm no fan of Miller personally, but as the insiders on this board know, he had legitimate chances to elave for bigger programs and more money after the '22-'23 season. He was also in talks with GC before and during the Tourney in 24-25' but never got the NIL assurances he felt he needed to compete. I firmly believe he wanted to stay and make X his last stop.

I don't root for the guy, but I get why he made the call. NIL has blown up and altered a lot of coaches' and players' plans.

[ChitownSteve]

AH-

Thanks, always good to trade thoughts. Appreciate the insight on Miller and GC, makes perfect sense on what precipitated Miller’s departure.

My concern in this NIL era is that it is tough enough to retain players, even when a Coach stays. Now, when a Coach leaves, everyone scatters into the wind. Pitino’s inevitable short-term stint could set Xavier back even further. Down the road hope that huge step back does not occur and if the Program is in a better place as you believe could occur, feel free to remind me to eat crow!

Now, back to focusing upon The Masters.