ALBANY — It didn’t take long into his postgame press conference for Iona coach Rick Pitino to be asked about his future with the Gaels amid rumors linking him with other jobs around the country, specifically the vacant head coaching job at St. John’s.
Pitino, a two-time national championship-winning coach who has taken his teams to seven Final Fours, took over at Iona in 2020 but had his name linked to the St. John’s opening the same day that school fired Mike Anderson last week.
The question on whether or not Pitino had coached his last game for the Gaels was the first question posed to him following the Iona’s 87-63 first-round loss to UConn.
“I really don’t have an answer to be honest with you. I don’t have any idea if it is or isn’t,” Pitino said. “I focused everything on this game, trying to develop a plan to beat Connecticut. It taught me a lot of what Iona needs in the future.”
Pitino has a 711-290 record at the collegiate level, holding head coaching jobs at Hawaii and Boston University before landing the Providence job and taking the Friars to the Final Four in 1987.
Pitino won national titles at Kentucky (1995-96) and Louisville (2012-13) before being terminated by the school following an investigation for alleged payments to one Cardinals recruit in June, 2017.
Following a lawsuit that was eventually settled, the termination was changed to a resignation on October 3, 2017, with a “zero liability” finding for both Pitino and Louisville in the case.
Pitino coached in Greece until Iona offered him a chance to return to the NCAA.
“I was totally exonerated because I was innocent of any, I got two level two violations of not being able to monitor (the program),” Pitino said. “I had to wait five years for them to basically stall my career. I was exonerated by an…
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