Let’s meet a man who might be the man.
If it’s accurate that Pitino the Younger has joined Will Wade and Justin Gainey on Boo Corrigan’s list, then I suppose we should entertain the notion. Pitino may also be involved in the searches at UVA and Villanova.
1.) How old is this fellow? He won’t be hitting retirement soon, right?
Richard Pitino is 42 years old, and if his dad is any indication, he may be coaching right up until society collapses in 2054.
2.) Does he have head coaching experience?
Pitino is in his 13th year as a head coach. He spent one year at FIU, eight at Minnesota, and is in year four at New Mexico. As an assistant he had stops at Louisville (working for his old man) and Florida.
3.) Does he currently work for ESPN?
He’s got a lot of underwhelming coaching to achieve before he reaches that portion of his career.
4.) To what extent has he elevated his program(s)?
New Mexico went through an extended period of struggle after Steve Alford left in 2013, and Pitino inherited a program that finished outside the KenPom top 100 in seven straight years. The year prior to his arrival, the Lobos bottomed out at 294.
They finished at No. 161 his first season, then improved to No. 66, then No. 29 in year three, and they stand at No. 41 in 2025.
The results were inconsistent at Minnesota, but overall he did pretty well there. That is a tough gig, certainly one of the worst in the Big Ten, and the Gophers have been to the NCAAs just six times in the 21st century. Pitino accounts for two of those trips, and Minnesota rated 62nd or higher in KenPom in six of his eight years there. He finished with a winning Big Ten record only one time, but again some context is necessary, as that was just the third time this century the Gophers managed the feat.
Pitino was fired in 2021 and his successor never got Minnesota higher than 78 in KenPom. (And that dude just got fired, also.)
5.) Does he have a track record of getting teams to the NCAA tournament?
He has New Mexico in the NCAAs for the second straight year. He took Minnesota twice. He is 1-3 in NCAA tournament games.
6.) Is there evidence he can recruit blue chip players?
Pitino accounts for four of the 10 highest-rated recruits ever to sign with Minnesota, per the 247Sports database. Not bad work, considering. He’s also been able to bring in multiple four-star guys at New Mexico, including JT Toppin, who parlayed an excellent freshman season into a big payday at Texas Tech. Such is the mid-major life. Two former four-star prospects, Tru Washington and Donovan Dent, are key pieces on the current UNM team. The Lobos could have been a real force with Toppin still in the fold.
7.) How is he handling roster management in the NIL/portal era?
He brought in four players via the portal prior to this season and has eight transfers on the roster. Of the six guys logging the most minutes in 2025, four are transfers. Generally he’s brought in guys with multiple years of eligibility left, which has helped the program’s continuity.
8.) How do his teams perform offensively and defensively?
His coaching history is a tad erratic on both sides, though he has New Mexico in the top 25 in defensive efficiency for the second straight season. That’s been the biggest driver behind his turnaround of this program—UNM improved nearly 100 spots here between 2023 and 2024.
He had a top-50 offense in 2023 and 2024, but it’s declined to No. 79 in 2025. At Minnesota, his offenses peaked at No. 30, and his defenses at No. 22. He had a top-60 offense four times, and a top-60 defense four times, it’s just that he only managed to do that at the same time twice.
Since taking the UNM job he seems to have made the conscious choice to push pace: his Lobo teams have ranked 22nd or higher in tempo in all four years and this year they rank fourth. His Minnesota teams didn’t play anywhere near this fast.
9.) Any obvious red flags?
It’s not often in a coaching search that you’ll find a candidate who’s been fired at a previous stop, and I’m sure this will be a fact people dwell on should he get the job here. It would affect the enthusiasm level from fans out of the gate, especially since everybody seems dead set on Will Wade.
I’ve touched on the difficult nature of the Minnesota job, and it’s also worth noting that he was really young (just 30) when he got that opportunity and had only one year of head coaching experience prior to it.
His success at New Mexico suggests that he has taken some tough lessons to heart and made changes. It wouldn’t be fair to say his Minnesota tenure defines him (and he did win a Big Ten Coach of the Year award there), and I’d at least keep an open mind about what he could accomplish moving forward.