sport news Richard Pitino 'is a top candidate for the Louisville job', despite the ... trends now The younger, 41-year-old Pitino is currently the head coach at New Mexico Rick Pitino was fired by Louisville for-cause in 2017 after multiple scandals DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news By Eric Blum Published: 19:52 GMT, 26 March 2024 | Updated: 19:57 GMT, 26 March 2024 Viewcomments Richard Pitino is reportedly a top candidate to become Louisville's next head men's basketball coach. Those in Kentucky's largest city know the Pitino family well, as Richard's father, Rick Pitino, was the Cardinals head coach for 16 seasons. Richard himself had two stints on his father's staff at Louisville. Rick Pitino's time at the Cardinals helm saw incredible success in real time, until multiple concurrent scandals harshly tainted his tenure in Louisville, originally being fired for-cause, in October 2017. The elder Pitino was originally suspended for a lack of control during an escort sex scandal, which directly led to the Cardinals' 2013 national championship being vacated. After Pitino was named in a federal investigation into bribing recruits to play for collegiate programs, years before NIL bills were signed into law, he was given the axe at Louisville. Richard Pitino could take his father's old job as Louisville's head men's basketball coach Rick Pitino is coaching St. John's in his first power conference job since the Louisville firing Seven years after the problems at Louisville started for his father, Rick Pitino could take the job that tarnished his father's legacy away from one of the greatest basketball coaches of all-time, per 247Sports. Pitino is not the only candidate for the job, with Indiana State's Josh Schertz also being linked to the Cardinals' vacancy. However takes over at Louisville will inherit a team that just went through its worst two-season stretch since World War II, winning 12 games in two seasons under Kenny Payne. Louisville is seen as a plum job in college basketball, and it is candidate pool is a sign of how far the program has fallen since the end of Pitino's tenure, where they likely will not bring in a sitting power conference coach to lead its program. That is a far cry from when the school could hire at will in the post-Denny Crum era. The elder Pitino is now at St. John's trying to rebrand his image, while his 41-year-old son just led New Mexico to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Read more: Share or comment on this article: Richard Pitino 'is a top candidate for the Louisville job', despite the scandal-plagued tenure of his father and legendary college basketball coach Rick in Kentucky All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility