Portal:Kentucky/Selected biography/9
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rick Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is the head basketball coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. Pitino holds the distinction of being the only men's coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to the Final Four. He has coached on the professional level for the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics with mixed success. He has earned respect as both a coach and motivator.
Pitino is considered by many to be one of the first coaches to promote fully taking advantage of the 3-point shot, first adopted by the NCAA in 1987. By exploiting the 3-point shot, his teams at Kentucky in the early 1990s were known as Pitino's Bombinos, as a significant portion of the offensive points came from the 3-point shot. Even now, Pitino's teams are known for the 3-point threat and all of his teams rank towards the top in 3-point attempts per season.
Pitino is the author of a motivational self-help book (and audio recording) named Success is a Choice. He published an autobiography in 1988 entitled Born to Coach describing his life up until his time with the Knicks.
