The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 28, 1996, Page 9, Image 9
UMass alumn
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK?Rick Pitino, dedicated
alumnus of the University of
Massachusetts, has no one to blame
but himself for the predicament he
faces this weekend as coach of the
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When his alma mater was looking
for a basketball coach eight years ago,
Pitino had a candidate he was willing
to go to the wall for, even offering a
little financial assistance in his pursuit
That man was John Calipari, and
on Saturday night he and Pitino will
lead their teams against each other
in the Final Four, a familiar spot for
a traditional program like Kentucky's,
a first-time event for Massachusetts.
"Fve seen a lot of great programs
develop, John Thompson at
Georgetown, Jerry Tarkanian at
UNLV in the desert," Pitino said
Wednesday, "but John took a program
that didnt have money for a secretary,
nothing, got an arena built when the
state was broke and got them to No.
1 ?1 T i.1 Li OA
i wnen 1 uiougm &\j was an
impossible task.
' Calipari took the Massachusetts
job in 1988, after the program had
experienced 10 consecutive losing
seasons, six of which had victory totals
in single digits.
Pitino had played there in 1973
and 1974 when the team went 20-7
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us, UK to fac
and 21-5.
"We were a New England program
a regional program," Pitino said ol
his years in Amherst 1 get the Bostor
Herald and Boston Globe sent to mt
now. I dont remember ever seeing ?
Herald or Globe reporter when I was
there. Now there are big inserts al
over and there's the television. Winning
was difficult but he created an imag*
and thaf s truly remarkable."
Pitino was the coach of the Nev
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be on the search committee as UMasj
looked for a replacement for Ror
Gerlufsen. He knew who he wantec
and came up with an extra $5,0001<
entice Calipari, then an assistant a
Pittsburgh, to take the job.
"My relationship with coach Pitin*
is based on the fact that I'm the hea<
coach at the University o
Massachusetts because he was 01
the selection committee and felt
would be good for the job, and hi
made the calls to make sure it wa
done," Calipari said Wednesday."
never worked for or played for Ricl
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a problem or needed help, I've beei
able to pick up a phone and he's givei
me great advice and I hope he feel
that way even though he doesn't nee<
anything from me."
Calipari talked of the upcominj
10 GIVE LIFE.
5 some form of I.D.
nd D
Turn
e Minutemen
matchup of his top-ranked Minutemen
, and the second-ranked Wildcats,
f This week he's the other coach,"
1 Calipari said. "Win or lose, Fm going
; to hug him and tell him how much
i he means to me."
3 The two have been on opposite
1 sidelines four times and the first
\ victory for Calipari came this season
j in a 92-82 win in November that
vaulted the Minutemen to the No. 1
f ranking. Only Massachusetts,
) Kentucky and Kansas held the top
3 spot this season,
l "We have a mutual friend who
1 we're always talking with and both
) of us have so much fun coaching,"
t Pitino said. "We are not similar in
the way we coach but we are similar
d in that we both absolutely love the
1 game of basketball. You have three,
f four, maybe five good friends in the
i business. You don't have a lot, but
I y ou do h ave s ome speci al
e relationships." Lm
s Calipari sounded a lot like his
I mentor.
k "I talk to maybe Rick and three usc ar
d other coaches on a regular basis," he mural,
i said. "I need to do that especially as
n a young guy going through things
s Fve never seen. I have to talk through j
d those things with somebody. I haven't
experienced what coach Pitino has
% experienced. I need that."
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