What was Pitino's quote? "We're going to win, and we're to win right away."
Wasn't it something like that?
After the sanctions were announced, three key players from last year's team left. LeRon Ellis, the 6-foot-10-inch center, transferred to Syracuse. Chris Mills, whose family allegedly received the $1,000 payment, left for Arizona. Eric Manuel, the player involved in cheating, is enrolled in a junior college.
What Pitino is left with is an inexperienced group led by Hanson, a 6-7 junior who averaged 9.8 points a game last season before being injured, and Miller, a sharp-shooting guard who averaged 13.9 points a game last season. When he accepted the Kentucky job, Pitino said,
''We will win, and we will win right away.'' Now with a schedule that includes Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina and Louisville in its first nine games, Pitino, who signed a seven-year contract, says he expects the transition to be completed in five years.
''The most important thing here for the next two years is to develop talent for the third year,'' he added, referring to the time Kentucky will again be able to participate in post-season play. ''I don't believe that Kentucky will be a consistent top 10 or top 20 team until you get your first recruiting class into its senior year. That's five years.'' Beyond that? ''In the past I've come in, turned the program around, then left for another challenge and never gave myself a chance to enjoy it,'' he said. ''I want to turn this around and enjoy it. I want to stay here. The only way I'm leaving is if they get rid of me.''