Could the Terps be led onto the court by a Naismith Hall of Fame coach to start the 2022-2023 season? According to one top source, it is a near certainty.
Rick Pitino to Maryland is being worked behind the scenes, a top source has told TSR.
Pitino, currently in his second season as the head coach at Iona College, is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of college basketball, having led three different schools to the Final Four and having won a pair of national championships. He led Iona to the NCAA tournament last season and his team is currently 15-3 with a win over a nationally ranked Alabama team.
With Mark Turgeon moving on early in the season, Maryland has a significant head start over other programs that might be looking for a head coach when the current season comes to an end. Parker Search Firm has been retained to identify and communicate with potential candidates and their parties behind the scenes.
When Pitino took the Iona job, he said it would be his last job. He has maintained a home in Westchester, NY for decades, not far from Iona's New Rochelle campus. Despite Pitino saying the Iona job would be his last, the school made him agree to a hefty buyout of 10 million dollars over the first two years of his contract. The belief is that after this season the buyout drops significantly, perhaps to 5 million dollars.
The next question becomes this: who is going to pay that buyout? Well, multiple sources close to the Maryland program have told TSR that one prominent booster has a rather close prior relationship with Pitino and has been quietly pushing for him behind the scenes. I'm also left to believe that should something be worked out with Pitino, they would be willing to front the money for his buyout.
Since Maryland and Turgeon have parted ways, Gary Williams has come out publicly in favor of Pitino. Williams had this to say about the possibility of Maryland hiring Pitino on Kevin Sheehan's podcast in early December:
"There will be people that might have that issue, without a doubt. But at the same time, you have to look at what somebody can do for a university right now. In other words, Rick, Rick has paid the price. He was let go at Louisville. He had to go overseas and coach. He's at a mid-major type situation now. And he's got to, that's the way it's worked for him. But you know, once again, we'll just use your records example. There's no better coach. He's going to put you in a position to be on the national stage every year that he coaches. I think he's 66 now or 67. But he's young, he's still relatively young and in terms of how he feels and everything. So somebody like that. Yeah, that'd be controversial. But you know what? That would last? That'd be a one-week story, controversy part of it, then, 'How are you going to be this year?' You know what it's like.
"I know him very well. Yeah. Yeah, I've known him a long time. We competed. We played in the Hall of Fame Game up in Massachusetts one time. You know, so I know him pretty well. And here's the other thing that now with the likeness thing and the transfer portals, you better have somebody wheeling and dealing a little bit because, hey, there's, there are no more violations for giving guys money or anything like that. Let's get serious. You know, guys, you know, they use the likeness as an excuse, there's already been bidding wars on the best players."
Pitino will turn 70 just before the start of the 2022-2023. With that said, he might not have too many years left in him, but he's a big name that would attract a lot of casual fans and likely bring a lot of former season ticket holders back into the fold. This is even more critical this upcoming offseason with a reseating of Xfinity Center expected to take place.
The biggest obstacle in hiring Pitino would be the NCAA sanctions he faced while at Louisville. These types of allegations and actions would have likely scared Maryland off in recent years, but again, with a reseat of Xfinity Center on the horizon, it is critical Maryland get this hire right and it be a big name that will draw in new fans and bring back previous fans who might have given up their season tickets in recent years. Still, from what I'm told, certain boosters would first need to sign off on Pitino, followed by Damon Evans and finally President Pines.
And Pitino isn't the only coach with a somewhat checkered past that has been mentioned for the Maryland job. Several sources have told TSR that Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl would be open to listening to Maryland's pitch should the Terps come calling. But Pearl seems like more and more of a long shot as the season goes on. Pearl's team is currently ranked No. 2 in the country with the potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. With Pearl reportedly extremely comfortable where he currently is, making over 4 million a year with the possibility of getting a raise (and a top 25 point guard arriving next season) getting him out of Auburn will likely be extremely difficult, especially given his own checkered past.
And the first name one of my top sources said would 'crawl' to College Park for the Maryland job is none other than one of Pitino's top proteges, Kevin Willard. The son of another longtime Pitino assistant, Ralph Willard, Kevin led Seton Hall to four straight NCAA tournaments and has had the Pirates ranked in the top 25 this season. Pitino has praised Kevin Willard numerous times in the past as being one of the top young coaches in the country.
At the end of the day, this all comes with several caveats. The reality is that we are still roughly two months away from Maryland being able to officially hire anyone currently coaching. It is also worth noting that this source isn't plugged in to the inner workings of Maryland. The hiring process, the search firm, the search committee, the panel interview, etc. But it is worth noting that this source is extremely plugged in with regards to coaching hires and is usually way ahead of the curve and right more times than wrong. If you are a Maryland fan, it is easy to be jaded at this point and say, 'I've seen this movie before and I know how it ends.' But with so much at stake and on the line, I think many understand this needs to be a home run hire knocked out of the park, and the one name that would really do that is Pitino.
Rick Pitino to Maryland is being worked behind the scenes, a top source has told TSR.
Pitino, currently in his second season as the head coach at Iona College, is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of college basketball, having led three different schools to the Final Four and having won a pair of national championships. He led Iona to the NCAA tournament last season and his team is currently 15-3 with a win over a nationally ranked Alabama team.
With Mark Turgeon moving on early in the season, Maryland has a significant head start over other programs that might be looking for a head coach when the current season comes to an end. Parker Search Firm has been retained to identify and communicate with potential candidates and their parties behind the scenes.
When Pitino took the Iona job, he said it would be his last job. He has maintained a home in Westchester, NY for decades, not far from Iona's New Rochelle campus. Despite Pitino saying the Iona job would be his last, the school made him agree to a hefty buyout of 10 million dollars over the first two years of his contract. The belief is that after this season the buyout drops significantly, perhaps to 5 million dollars.
The next question becomes this: who is going to pay that buyout? Well, multiple sources close to the Maryland program have told TSR that one prominent booster has a rather close prior relationship with Pitino and has been quietly pushing for him behind the scenes. I'm also left to believe that should something be worked out with Pitino, they would be willing to front the money for his buyout.
Since Maryland and Turgeon have parted ways, Gary Williams has come out publicly in favor of Pitino. Williams had this to say about the possibility of Maryland hiring Pitino on Kevin Sheehan's podcast in early December:
"There will be people that might have that issue, without a doubt. But at the same time, you have to look at what somebody can do for a university right now. In other words, Rick, Rick has paid the price. He was let go at Louisville. He had to go overseas and coach. He's at a mid-major type situation now. And he's got to, that's the way it's worked for him. But you know, once again, we'll just use your records example. There's no better coach. He's going to put you in a position to be on the national stage every year that he coaches. I think he's 66 now or 67. But he's young, he's still relatively young and in terms of how he feels and everything. So somebody like that. Yeah, that'd be controversial. But you know what? That would last? That'd be a one-week story, controversy part of it, then, 'How are you going to be this year?' You know what it's like.
"I know him very well. Yeah. Yeah, I've known him a long time. We competed. We played in the Hall of Fame Game up in Massachusetts one time. You know, so I know him pretty well. And here's the other thing that now with the likeness thing and the transfer portals, you better have somebody wheeling and dealing a little bit because, hey, there's, there are no more violations for giving guys money or anything like that. Let's get serious. You know, guys, you know, they use the likeness as an excuse, there's already been bidding wars on the best players."
Pitino will turn 70 just before the start of the 2022-2023. With that said, he might not have too many years left in him, but he's a big name that would attract a lot of casual fans and likely bring a lot of former season ticket holders back into the fold. This is even more critical this upcoming offseason with a reseating of Xfinity Center expected to take place.
The biggest obstacle in hiring Pitino would be the NCAA sanctions he faced while at Louisville. These types of allegations and actions would have likely scared Maryland off in recent years, but again, with a reseat of Xfinity Center on the horizon, it is critical Maryland get this hire right and it be a big name that will draw in new fans and bring back previous fans who might have given up their season tickets in recent years. Still, from what I'm told, certain boosters would first need to sign off on Pitino, followed by Damon Evans and finally President Pines.
And Pitino isn't the only coach with a somewhat checkered past that has been mentioned for the Maryland job. Several sources have told TSR that Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl would be open to listening to Maryland's pitch should the Terps come calling. But Pearl seems like more and more of a long shot as the season goes on. Pearl's team is currently ranked No. 2 in the country with the potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. With Pearl reportedly extremely comfortable where he currently is, making over 4 million a year with the possibility of getting a raise (and a top 25 point guard arriving next season) getting him out of Auburn will likely be extremely difficult, especially given his own checkered past.
And the first name one of my top sources said would 'crawl' to College Park for the Maryland job is none other than one of Pitino's top proteges, Kevin Willard. The son of another longtime Pitino assistant, Ralph Willard, Kevin led Seton Hall to four straight NCAA tournaments and has had the Pirates ranked in the top 25 this season. Pitino has praised Kevin Willard numerous times in the past as being one of the top young coaches in the country.
At the end of the day, this all comes with several caveats. The reality is that we are still roughly two months away from Maryland being able to officially hire anyone currently coaching. It is also worth noting that this source isn't plugged in to the inner workings of Maryland. The hiring process, the search firm, the search committee, the panel interview, etc. But it is worth noting that this source is extremely plugged in with regards to coaching hires and is usually way ahead of the curve and right more times than wrong. If you are a Maryland fan, it is easy to be jaded at this point and say, 'I've seen this movie before and I know how it ends.' But with so much at stake and on the line, I think many understand this needs to be a home run hire knocked out of the park, and the one name that would really do that is Pitino.
