Why? Why did RP have to do this????

[uk78_rivals88018]

Like most here, I dislike RP (and don't even like spelling out his name) for all that he did post his stint at Kentucky. I live in Florida and when the UL job was open, RP had been offered to be the U. of Miami coach (he has or had a home in South Florida at that time and so that would have been easy) and also the UNLV job which I thought for sure he would take because of the attention. Instead, well don't need to go into all that.

Nevertheless, he was a great coach, pretty much returned Kentucky to glory and then obviously did a good job at UL with a program that had been on a decline. He was nationally recognized, certainly respected for his coaching abilities, and so on. Yes, a major league a-hole personally, but in the college basketball world had many who would be interested in playing for him.

So separate from all this pay-offs by others, why do it? He still was getting and would have gotten decent recruits. Was Bowen so head and shoulders above everyone else? UL was in the ACC and there are recruits that get exposed to that league through ESPN and want to play at one of the programs, and again UL was considered more than an average program, why?

 

[mdlUK.1]

I agree with you. Makes no sense. I hate that he went to ul but that doesn't changed the fact that he can coach. He didn't need to do this.

 

[Jdhays21]

Like most here, I dislike RP (and don't even like spelling out his name) for all that he did post his stint at Kentucky. I live in Florida and when the UL job was open, RP had been offered to be the U. of Miami coach (he has or had a home in South Florida at that time and so that would have been easy) and also the UNLV job which I thought for sure he would take because of the attention. Instead, well don't need to go into all that.

Nevertheless, he was a great coach, pretty much returned Kentucky to glory and then obviously did a good job at UL with a program that had been on a decline. He was nationally recognized, certainly respected for his coaching abilities, and so on. Yes, a major league a-hole personally, but in the college basketball world had many who would be interested in playing for him.

So separate from all this pay-offs by others, why do it? He still was getting and would have gotten decent recruits. Was Bowen so head and shoulders above everyone else? UL was in the ACC and there are recruits that get exposed to that league through ESPN and want to play at one of the programs, and again UL was considered more than an average program, why?

Coach Cal came to UK and has had immense recruiting and in game success. UK has also owned UofL and Pitino's ego couldn't handle it. Also, if he was going to win ACC titles against Duke and Carolina they knew they needed better players.

 

[Bluetick2100]

All about his EGO !
Nothing else, had plenty of money.

 

[katwest]

Because he didn't want to keep playing second fiddle in the state and beating Kentucky was the driving force behind going rogue. It was not going to happen, getting beat by Kentucky was eating him up and the only way to even think about trying to be equal to Kentucky was to cheat.

 

[RDCat07]

I'm pretty sure when u6 hired him they expected immediate results, he also expected for the UK loyal to now jump ship and follow him. when those two things didn't happen I'm sure the university put the pressure on him to win at all cost and well it took him 12 years to win a title vs 7 here,

 

[westerncat]

It may have been a case of "keeping up with the Jones". I think he got tired of being beat by UK with Cal at UK. Plus as other have pointed out trying to keep up with Duke and UNC in the ACC may have had something to do with it.

 

[wildcatsincebirth]

If you think this action by pitino is just a recent thing and he hasn’t been doing this his entire time at Louisville or maybe even when he was at UK, well I have some ocean front property in Casey county for sale at a great price.

 

[revcort]

I think it was all about UK and Calipari for him. If you look at when the real cheating began, it was about the time Calipari came to UK. That was "a shot heard round the world" in college basketball recruiting, and it was even louder in Louisville, the in-state rival. I think Rick was likely cheating on a smaller scale all along, but the prostitutes and the paid players came after Calipari arrived. It was all about his ego and keeping up with the Joneses.

And on that line, the changing recruiting situation had left Pitino with 4* and lower recruits. Pretty much all his guys, with the exception of 1 or 2 here and there, were 3 and 4 year players. And recruits didn't want to come play in his system because of his reputation as a jerk and because his system was focused more on defense, and he didn't let freshmen play and preferred his upperclassmen. So, this all fueled his desperation.

 

[Whoppercat]

Like most here, I dislike RP (and don't even like spelling out his name) for all that he did post his stint at Kentucky. I live in Florida and when the UL job was open, RP had been offered to be the U. of Miami coach (he has or had a home in South Florida at that time and so that would have been easy) and also the UNLV job which I thought for sure he would take because of the attention. Instead, well don't need to go into all that.

Nevertheless, he was a great coach, pretty much returned Kentucky to glory and then obviously did a good job at UL with a program that had been on a decline. He was nationally recognized, certainly respected for his coaching abilities, and so on. Yes, a major league a-hole personally, but in the college basketball world had many who would be interested in playing for him.

So separate from all this pay-offs by others, why do it? He still was getting and would have gotten decent recruits. Was Bowen so head and shoulders above everyone else? UL was in the ACC and there are recruits that get exposed to that league through ESPN and want to play at one of the programs, and again UL was considered more than an average program, why?

I think you people are naive. The money came from Adidas. Do you really think Pitino was the only coach Adidas was doing this for? And if Adidas was doing it, what about the big guy, Nike? I think this is only the very tip of the iceberg.

 

[FlCATFan_rivals26961]

I think it was all about UK and Calipari for him. If you look at when the real cheating began, it was about the time Calipari came to UK. That was "a shot heard round the world" in college basketball recruiting, and it was even louder in Louisville, the in-state rival. I think Rick was likely cheating on a smaller scale all along, but the prostitutes and the paid players came after Calipari arrived. It was all about his ego and keeping up with the Joneses.

And on that line, the changing recruiting situation had left Pitino with 4* and lower recruits. Pretty much all his guys, with the exception of 1 or 2 here and there, were 3 and 4 year players. And recruits didn't want to come play in his system because of his reputation as a jerk and because his system was focused more on defense, and he didn't let freshmen play and preferred his upperclassmen. So, this all fueled his desperation.

I think that you have it exactly right IL Wildcat. Ultimately Pitino was done in by his own arrogance and ego.

 

[walpole00]

He couldn't beat Cal, period. Immense pressure to win; its why all coaches cheat or toe a grey area as much as possible. He could be number 2 program in the entire country but they could never be the number 1 program in their own state.

 

[Wildcat Sheli]

Here is a link to the 2014 press conference transcript of Pitino's thoughts on shoe companies, and also the "I couldn't care less about Kentucky" comment (scroll down to section on KY's second team being # 2, aka white platoon, for that): http://www.courier-journal.com/stor...transcript-preseason-shoe-companies/16991075/

It is clear he resented losing the recruiting battle, blaming it on Nike. Had the 2014-2015 team (referenced in the presser) won the title, there would forever be discussion on which team was the "greatest ever", of which he has been quite vocal with his opinion. I also remember him saying the recruit he regretted losing the most was Trey Lyles (see http://www.coachcal.com/26197/2013/12/cal-coach-recruits-one-done-players/ where he laments losing the recruiting battle to Cal). For someone who thought Kentucky was Camelot, it must have eaten him up to realize his own potential dynasty that was lost when he left, and all the what ifs if he hadn't.

At his age and with his success, it's just so sad. It didn't have to be this way.

 

[akaukswoosh]

So separate from all this pay-offs by others, why do it? He still was getting and would have gotten decent recruits.

Wee see it all the time. People who have it all break the rules for more money, 'success,' sex, status, trophies, etc.

 

[irishcat1965]

Like most here, I dislike RP (and don't even like spelling out his name) for all that he did post his stint at Kentucky. I live in Florida and when the UL job was open, RP had been offered to be the U. of Miami coach (he has or had a home in South Florida at that time and so that would have been easy) and also the UNLV job which I thought for sure he would take because of the attention. Instead, well don't need to go into all that.

Nevertheless, he was a great coach, pretty much returned Kentucky to glory and then obviously did a good job at UL with a program that had been on a decline. He was nationally recognized, certainly respected for his coaching abilities, and so on. Yes, a major league a-hole personally, but in the college basketball world had many who would be interested in playing for him.

So separate from all this pay-offs by others, why do it? He still was getting and would have gotten decent recruits. Was Bowen so head and shoulders above everyone else? UL was in the ACC and there are recruits that get exposed to that league through ESPN and want to play at one of the programs, and again UL was considered more than an average program, why?

Why? Because he is low life cheating POS. Why anyone would be surprised by this is mind boggling. He had no problem screwing a bimbo on a restaurant table and then paid to have his unborn child aborted. Paying players, paying whores to screw recruits and everything else he has done is child's play. He knew about all of it and participated in it. He couldn't tolerate Cal's success and was going to cheat to catch him.

 

[docholiday51]

He thought he could re-create his UK glory at UL.The spotlight would be brighter at UL(partly because of the relationship with UK) than Miami or UNLV. He had more problems beating Tubby than he thought He never saw Cal coming here.When that happened it was a game changer.The atmosphere at UL as always one of measuring themselves against UK not the rest of college basketball,Jurich came along and conditions became right for the perfect storm.

I don't think Rick corrupted UL he got caught up in the win at all cost mentality there,he lost touch with some aspects of reality.He was an ageing coach who was trying to hang on his glory days and his youth in every way possible.Rick didn't have a mid life crisis he had an old age crisis.

Think about all the stuff he said year after year,"this player is the next Mashburn","this is the deepest team I've had in 40 years of coaching",the best this","the greatest that". We had heard that all before,the first time around was ok we bought it.

All jokes aside I regret that college sports has come to this,I would have preferred that Rick's legacy be a bit less tarnished,leaving because of one of the sex scandals would have better than this,but Jurich and UL were satisfied to look the other way.

The sad thing is that even with FBI investigations and all the negative publicity that college basketball gets from this very little will change,it will be back to business as usual by next recruiting season.

 

[Col. Angus]

UK was whipping his *** every year and he couldn't keep up with Duke or UNC in the ACC. Pretty simple. He got desperate.

 

[DelkBowl]

It was all because Cal was kicking his azz. Coach-2 was over rated anyway if you look at his failures in the tourney. All time great? I don't think so.

 

[John Henry]

He did it because he is a sick man. Mentally ill. He can not tell the truth and thinks rules do not apply to him. Call it ego or devilish it all goes back to being a very, very sick mentally ill man. A chronic liar.

 

[KMKAT]

Rick forgot the difference between facts and his lies. Remember when he took on Marvin Stone and how happy he was at the end of that game? How about the national title and that tattoo?
He tried everything to top 'anything' UK and he couldn't.
That led him to the dark side (Jurich is the head of this snake) and he couldn't turn back. I don't question his ability to coach and motivate.
This guy is arrogant to the very end; you saw him on Gameday in his element as head curmudgeon and his white suit obviously was overused.
So many example of his arrogance and his sloppy handling. No one would have kept their job after the first incident. Rick got 3!

 

[irishcat1965]

He did it because he is a sick man. Mentally ill. He can not tell the truth and thinks rules do not apply to him. Call it ego or devilish it all goes back to being a very, very sick mentally ill man. A chronic liar.

Exactly. Why he would release a statement about he is shocked by this indictment WHEN HE KNEW he was coach 2 defies logic.

 

[Ugoff]

Rick is like the spoiled kid who thinks the rules don't apply to him.

Look at the Sypher case. He had his 15 seconds of fun, got his tit in the wringer and paid this woman hush money for years. Then, when he got tired of the demands, he and the snakes at UL entrapped her, made Rick out to be some kind of "victim" and with the help of some local snakes in the court system had his problem sent to prison.

After that, he felt he could operate with impunity. He couldn't. Eventually he crossed the wrong woman. When judgement came down on the outrageous hooker scandal, he plays the victim again - blames McGee, and fights the penalties tooth and nail instead of just accepting them and keeping his job.

His statement the other day sounded eerily similar to his previous victim plays. "Named and unnamed people perpetrated a fraudulent scheme". Now we find out he's coach 2 or "little deuce" as I like to call him. What a sad tale.

 

[SoCalBlueFan]

It is HUBRIS.... The definition of hubris...

and just to bolster that point, here's the actual definition of hubris:

Hubris (/ˈhjuːbrɪs/, also hybris, from ancient Greekὕβρις) describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence.[1] In its ancient Greek context, it typically describes behavior that defies the norms of behavior or challenges the gods, and which in turn brings about the downfall, or nemesis, of the perpetrator of hubris.

 

[UKWildcatT]

I honestly don't think I can add anything else. It's all been said.

 

[morgousky]

I honestly don't think I can add anything else. It's all been said.

Surely you jest.

There is always something to add.

It's Louisville.

 

[Whatsup]

It is HUBRIS.... The definition of hubris...

and just to bolster that point, here's the actual definition of hubris:

Hubris (/ˈhjuːbrɪs/, also hybris, from ancient Greekὕβρις) describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence.[1] In its ancient Greek context, it typically describes behavior that defies the norms of behavior or challenges the gods, and which in turn brings about the downfall, or nemesis, of the perpetrator of hubris.

WTF....

 

[bigbluehomer]

Exactly. Why he would release a statement about he is shocked by this indictment WHEN HE KNEW he was coach 2 defies logic.

I also agree with Sawnee Cat and this. Wouldn't Rick and his attorney have gone thru the FBI report line by line, word by word. When the Coach 1 and 2 stuff popped up, wouldn't Rick's attorney have point blank asked him "What do you know about this?". Did Rick lie to his attorney? And if so how could he think that the RP to Coach 2 dots wouldn't be connected, and probably very quickly like they were. But Rick still put out a "I'm shocked" statement. Sick, delusional, living in alternate reality, etc. ,etc.

Since he seems to once again wish to play the "I'm a victim" card, perhaps his best bet is to be a victim of mental illness.

 

[hotelblue]

i think his ego was catered to and he got use to the corruption. no way pitino (with one title) had the clout to take over that whole athletic department and have the board and city partnering up with him. it was a perfect dynamic for unethical behavior in sports.

 

[Jazzycat]

Pitino is an ambitious, narcissistic individual who took great risks because he obviously thought that he was bulletproof. He lacked the integrity to stay faithful to his wife and family and lacked the character to put the welfare of his players and assistants before his own needs and wants. He left a near perfect situation to go coach in the NBA, which was a business decision, but showed his propensity for ambition and fame.

I always appreciated the way he got to work and brought U.K. back to prominence. He was a gifted motivator, game prep coach and recruiter. It is sad to see someone who has been blessed with so much, squander those talents for so little at an exorbitant cost to himself, his family and a university.

 

[wildcatdonf]

Rick is a pathological liar. Y'all have heard him lie many many times. Lying and cheating go together. I can tell when he is lying.

 

[RacerX.ksr]

Exactly. Why he would release a statement about he is shocked by this indictment WHEN HE KNEW he was coach 2 defies logic.

Not in the mind of a sociopath. When they referred to him as coach 2 he either thought he was too important to name or they couldn't prove he was the voice on the tape. He was going to deny til the very end.

Just like the whores. He assumed that if anyone ever talked about it he could just say "I'm Rick and she's a *****, who you gonna believe"? I suppose he didn't think about cell phone records, photographs, or eye witnesses turning on him.

Pitino was the coach at UK when it came back after the suspensions. We were always going to come back, it may have taken another coach longer, or maybe not, we will never know that. But for people to say he's such a great coach they have to recognize who he was before he was our coach versus who he was after he had been our coach. We made him, us and the new 3 point line.

Look up his performance in close games, an indicator of how proficient a coach is in the x's and o's. Teaching Whack a Mole defense and all around dirty basketball doesn't equal a great coach in my opinion. I'm not saying he's not a good coach, lot's of guys are, it's not rocket science.

 

[docholiday51]

Rick is/was a pretty good coach but let's look at his UK years(which made him what he was perceived to be) consider the staff that he assembled and what they brought to the table.Rick was a great front or pitch man,yes he could motivate,entertain the media and draw attention but the nuts and bolts of day to day operation was in the hands of Smith, Donovan and Sendek

Rick has the credentials to be the hall of fame coach that he became but much of that revolves around his years at UK and his surrounding cast.

 

[jr40831]

Being 2nd fiddle in this state tortured him.

 

[CatPhight_rivals65113]

 

[WildMoon]

Coach Cal, 8 wins
Coach 2, 2 wins

 

[jc2010]

Rick is a pathological liar. Y'all have heard him lie many many times. Lying and cheating go together. I can tell when he is lying.

Everyone can, his lips move

 

[RacerX.ksr]

Coach Cal, 8 wins
Coach 2, 2 wins

1 win, the other no longer happened.

 

[BBNinSCar]

Pitino never recovered from the mistake that was leaving the University of Kentucky. I can't blame him for taking the money the Celtics were offering but as it turned into a massive career blunder, he never recovered from this.
RP's greatest accomplishments were over 20 years ago in Lexington. He could never get back to that level.

 

[Xception]

I think coach 2 was delusional in thinking the NCAA was too harsh with the hooker penalties and he said you know what I'm going to get that title you're taking back by any means. He thought it was justification to get dirty because they were taking what they shouldn't be in his mind. It's the equivalent to your gf cheating on you because she got mad and thought it was justified, same touched up mentality.

 

[Ukbrassowtipin]

When ppl say tip of the iceberg...its the tip for uofl. There's not one clean dollar running thru that athletic program.