I bet Lexington f87king shakes when the crowd roars for him Saturday. I'm calling top 5ish loudest Kroger Field roars.
Pitino rebuilt and returned to prominence the two major flagship university basketball programs in this state.
He should be welcomed back by all. He should probably be made a Kentucky Colonel (if he hasn't already) and put in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.
Specifically, what he did here was nothing short of legendary. From the edge of the abyss to back-to-back titles.
What Hurley is doing at UConn; Pitino was doing here 25ish years ago. Tough, gritty, dominant basketball. You want to turn a program into a monster. Higher guy from the northeast who came up in the old big east. That's a different kind of basketball from a long-gone era and those cats are just different. See Billy D at UF. Same thing. Old gritty big east point guard.
But I digress.
Pitino loves Kentucky. The state, the people, the horses, the basketball. He's one of the best coaches ever. I thought St. Johns should've made the tourney last year. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they made it and advanced this year, which would be yet another program he's turned around and at the very least taken to the tournament.
I hope he retires from St. John's in a few years having led them on a tourney run or two and takes a ceremonial final lap as AHC on Pope's staff. That would be wild.