Willard Coming To Assist Pitino, NOT TAKE OVER

Rick Bozich wrote a great article today. The entire thing can be read HERE.

Following are the highlights from Bozich’s art tickle, including quotes from Willard himself:

Ralph Willard did not give up the head coaching position at Holy Cross, his alma mater, to become the University of Louisville’s interim head basketball coach, the Cardinals’ coach-in-waiting or any of the countless job descriptions being whispered these days.

“No way,” Willard said. “There will not be a leave of absence. Rick Pitino will be the coach at the University of Louisville. Rick is fine. He really is. Any of that behind-the-scenes speculation is way off.”

On Pitino’s silence this summer:

Pitino spoke once to dismiss a story that he was interested in coaching the Sacramento Kings. Willard said Pitino will appear Friday at 3 p.m. when Willard is introduced at the Yum! Center.

Other than that, mostly silence…..It has been uncharacteristic for Pitino to be this invisible, an invisibility that has been exaggerated by the considerable stir that John Calipari’s arrival has created at UK.

And that is exactly where most of the rumors and reports have come from. Bitter Kentucky fans who for some reason or another still harbor ill-will towards the man who basically built the foundation for the modern edition of Kentucky Basketball. Bitter Kentucky fans who think that now that John Calipari has come to the rescue Slick Rick is going to run away with his tail tucked.

At one point, Calipari and Pitino were actually friends. Pitino, in fact, was instrumental in helping Calipari land the UMass head coaching job at age 29. Then competition got the best of both of them. In 1992, UMass met Pitino’s Kentucky team in the Sweet 16, the game before “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” A game-changing technical foul was called against Calipari for being outside the coaching box. Calipari, who still swears he was in the coaching box, always believed that Pitino nudged the official into making the call. Pitino also beat Calipari in the 1996 Final Four, the one later vacated due to Camby’s dealings with an agent, and Cal’s last game as UMass coach. Pitino is 9-4 overall against Calipari.

Pitino has called Calipari “amateurish and unprofessional” and said “I don’t pay any attention to John when it comes to begging for officiating. I have heard him since the UMass days talking about the officials. I pay no attention to anything he says. When people start talking about officials, you know they have some psychological problems.”

Bozich on Willard’s connections:

South Carolina coach Darrin Horn played for Willard at Western Kentucky. Indiana coach Tom Crean coached for Willard at WKU and Pittsburgh.

This is the most revealing thing Horn and Crean said about Willard Wednesday: They still call him, “Coach,” and that’s the only thing they will ever call him.

“Coach is the best,” Horn said. “He has the unique ability to challenge you and demand things from you, but at the same time you never question that he thinks you can do it.”

“There’s no way I could have gone through last winter (a 6-25 season) without everything I learned from Coach Willard,” Crean said. “I called him and told him that.”

And finally on what Willard’s role at UofL will be:

Willard will evaluate more talent than he recruits. He’ll be an invaluable contributor at practice. He’ll question Pitino on the sidelines, the video room and elsewhere.

That inspires the comparison to O’Brien, another Pitino friend. Fired by the University of Dayton in 1994, O’Brien joined Pitino’s UK staff and was there for the drive to the 1996 NCAA title.

Willard was not fired by Holy Cross. He could have stayed forever. But Willard said the challenges of mid-major coaching had become more daunting. He has survived prostate cancer and open-heart surgery. Willard and Pitino have debated this move nearly every summer.

“We’ve always talked about doing something special,” Willard said. “Now is the time to do it.”

Welcome Aboard Ralph