5 possible replacements for Rick Pitino at Louisville

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head Coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals directs his team against the Duke Blue Devils during the quarterfinals of the ACC Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 9, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

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2. Richard Pitino

Pitino recently turned 35 years old. But he as a solid resume as an assistant coach, under Donovan as well as his father, and is already entering his fifth season as head coach Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are coming off a 24-win campaign and a NCAA Tournament berth in 2016-17, so the younger Pitino’s star may start to really rise on a national scale with a worthy follow-up season this year.

There’s been a thought (however casual) that Rick Pitino would hand-pick his successor when he was ready to leave Louisville and retire from coaching. The ability to have that input is now surely gone in the wake of a controversial dismissal not of his choice, but that doesn’t mean Richard Pitino is now totally out of the mix as a candidate at Louisville.

It’s safe to say Pitino will not be leaving Minnesota to replace his father at Louisville, or take any other job, until after the coming season. But his father will now have a lot more time to visit Minneapolis and watch Gophers’ games, and perhaps have some under the radar influence on whether or not Richard considers going to Louisville in 2018. Assuming the school has interest, of course, and it can effectively separate the son from the father’s now-tarnished legacy.