There will be more than one Pitino in the Big East next season.
Xavier hired Richard Pitino, the son of St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, as its basketball coach on Tuesday night. The school had an opening after Sean Miller left to accept the Texas job on Monday.
Richard Pitino takes over the Xavier program after four years at New Mexico, where he led the Lobos to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. New Mexico went 27-8 this season and was eliminated by Michigan State 71-63 in the second round of the NCAAs on Sunday.
“Xavier is one of the great brands in all of college basketball,” Richard Pitino said in a statement. “It has always been a dream of mine to coach in the Big East. The Cintas Center is going to be rocking. I can’t wait to get to work.”
The younger Pitino was the Mountain West Coach of the Year this season after the Lobos won the conference’s regular-season title. He went 88-49 at New Mexico and has an overall mark of 247-186.
Xavier moved quickly after Chris Mack announced he would remain at the College of Charleston.
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