Would Calipari invite Rick Pitino to talk to UK basketball team?

May 09, 2024

Former college basketball coach Rick Pitino hasn't been on the sidelines since the 2016-17 season. He was fired last October after the University of Louisville was among teams included in the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball.

Pitino recently started a Twitter account. He's tweeted about starting a podcast and has also posted photos of speaking to teams such as Cincinnati and Syracuse. During Kentucky's media day on Thursday, John Calipari was asked whether he'd appear on Pitino's podcast. Calipari, who said he's spoken with Pitino a few times since he was fired, hosted Pitino on his podcast during January 2017.

"I'm not a scheduled guest," Calipari said. "I've talked to him once. I may have talked to him twice, but I've texted him occasionally. But if he asked me I would probably do it because he did my podcast, so yeah, I would."

Pitino coached at Kentucky from 1989-1997 and won the 1996 NCAA championship. He left Lexington after the 1997 season to coach the Boston Celtics. Calipari was asked if he'd invite Pitino to talk to his team.

"Probably wouldn't have him come talk to the team based on it would put North Korea on the back burner. Let me just say that," Calipari said.

While at Kentucky, Calipari went 8-2 against Pitino's Louisville teams. The Wildcats beat Louisville in the Final Four in 2012 and then took down the Cardinals in the Sweet 16 during the 2014 NCAA Tournament.