Page 19 - ARUBA TODAY

A19
SPORTS Monday 16 March 2020
Rick Pitino returns to college basketball as Iona coach

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) Pitino's return to college ter final chapter between
— Hall of Famer Rick Pitino basketball comes nearly six the school and Pitino, who
was named basketball months after he and Louis- wasn't named in the fed-
coach at Iona College on ville settled lawsuits stem- eral complaint. He repeat-
Saturday. ming from his departure in edly said he knew nothing
Pitino coached at Louisville the wake of a federal in- about payments made to
from 2001-17 before being vestigation of corruption in the family of a recruit to
fired in a pay-for-play scan- college basketball. sign with Louisville.
dal and had been coach- The coach had sued the The school's acknowledge-
ing in Greece. He replaces University of Louisville Ath- ment of its involvement in
Tim Cluess, who resigned letic Association for more the federal investigation
Friday due to health con- than $38.7 million in No- occurred as it appealed
cerns after 10 years and vember 2017, alleging its NCAA sanctions that cost
six NCAA Tournament ap- breached its contract by fir- Louisville its 2013 national
pearances. ing him for cause the previ- championship. In this Feb. 21, 2018, file photo, former Louisville basketball
"My passion in basketball ous month. The school had In that case, the governing coach Rick Pitino appears during a news conference in New
started in New York and will countersued and sought body ordered the vacation York.
end there at Iona College," monetary damages for va- of 123 victories, including Associated Press
Pitino said in a statement cated games and bonus- the Cardinals' third nation-
released by the Catholic es. Pitino received no mon- al title and their 2012 Final have sex with players and that infractions under his
school located north of ey in the settlement, with Four appearance, follow- recruits. watch led to "serious con-
New York City in suburban his personnel file changing ing an escort's book allega- Pitino said he was unaware sequences" for the school,
Westchester County that from termination to a res- tions that former Louisville of any of the activities de- it acknowledged Pitino's
has an undergraduate en- ignation effective 13 days men's basketball staffer An- scribed in the book. While success and commitment
rollment of 3,300 students. before he was fired. dre McGee hired her and Louisville reiterated in a to his players and thanked
"Tim Cluess has done a The settlement closed a bit- other dancers to strip and joint settlement statement him for his service.q
spectacular job creating
success and a winning spir-
it," Pitino added. "At Iona, I
will work with the same pas-
sion, hunger and drive that
I've had for over 40 years."
The 67-year-old Pitino has
a 770-271 overall record in
college and became the
first coach to take three
different schools to the Fi-
nal Four. He won national
championships at Louisville
(2013) and Kentucky (1996)
and also went to the Final
Four with Providence in
1987. Pitino coached twice
in the NBA, with the New
York Knicks (1987-89) and
the Boston Celtics (1997-
2001), where he was also
team president.
Last June, Pitino coached
Panathinaikos to the
championship in the Greek
League. Iona President
Seamus Carey said "after a
thorough interview process
we are confident that Rick's
experience and commit-
ment to Iona and our com-
munity make him the right
person to continue to build
on Tim Cluess' success."