Rick Pitino Understood Why UK Fans Were Upset When He Coached Louisville

Rick Pitino with UK coach Mark Pope and his family. (UK Athletics Photo)

Not only did former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino make a memorable appearance at Big Blue Madness in Rupp Arena Friday night that drew a huge ovation, but he did an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio’s Matt Jones Saturday during the UK football pregame show.

Pitino, who attended the UK-Vanderbilt football game Saturday night, was remarkably honest during his interview with Jones.

He confirmed he was indeed a UK football NIL donor as he had noted on social media recently. Pitino told Jones he donated $15,000 after playing golf with UK coach Mark Stoops and Eddie Gran, special assistant to the head coach, at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York.

“I’m a big Mark Stoops fan. What he’s done with Kentucky football, they said couldn’t be done and he’s done it,” Pitino told Jones. “I watched the Ole Miss game. It was awesome. Even the Georgia game was awesome, and I hope they get it tonight and I go home with a smile.”

Pitino said he did not know UK coach Mark Pope, the captain of Pitino’s 1996 national championship team would have him speak at Madness and he came close to crying in Rupp Arena.

“It was really very emotional for me because I was backstage in the back with all my players, and that was great to see them, even Todd Svoboda, who’s gone through a very difficult time and then seeing all the guys. It was very, very emotional for me. And then walking out (on the court) became more emotional,” the St. John’s coach said.

He admitted he did not know the type of ovation he would get but the rousing welcome from UK fans made it “one of the better nights of my life” Friday.

“It really touched me,” he said.

Pitino had not been in Rupp Arena since Louisville lost to UK in 2015 and he had a controversial departure from the game. He also had a lot of controversy later with the Cards that led to his dismissal.

“Obviously, it didn’t end well for me at the other place and I wanted to come back to this place, because I never had a bad day here. Everybody has a bad day, bad month, bad year with a job, but I didn’t have, both at Providence and Kentucky, I never had a bad day and that is interesting with a coach not to have a bad day, bad week, bad month,” Pitino said on KSR.

Pitino talked to Pope’s team at practice Saturday morning and emphasized how special Kentucky is and always will be.

“Kentucky is different than any job I’ve ever had, because it’s special. It really is a special place,” Pitino said. “You get very emotional when you — I told the kids downstairs, I said, ‘You’re not going to realize it now, because you haven’t grown up in Kentucky, not all of you, but someday you’re going to come back here and you’re going to realize what it meant to put on that uniform,’” Pitino said.

Many Kentucky fans have needed years to forgive Pitino for coaching at Louisville after he was fired by the Boston Celtics — the job he left Kentucky for. He said he actually had signed a contract to coach at Michigan before his wife, JoAnne, helped change his mind because of his connections in Kentucky.

“I was at a low point in my basketball life. It’s the first time I failed with the Boston Celtics, the first time I failed. And all I wanted to do is get back to this place, not thinking Louisville, Kentucky, but just thinking I had such great memories of working here, I just want to get back to the state where I had so many friends,” Pitino told Jones. “I had good years, loved my players and the fans were great to me.”

Not all fans were “great” to him while he was at Louisville. Jones asked him if that hurt.

“It hurt, but I understood it,” Pitino said.