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Louisville approves terms of Pitino contract extension

Published August 9, 2011 3:05 pm U of L basketball 6 Comments
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(AP photo)

C-J sports columnist Eric Crawford reports that U of L has approved the terms of Rick Pitino’s contract extension.

Excerpt:

Pitino’s base salary will remain at $3 million annually through the 2102-13 season, then rise to $3.9 million for the final four seasons of the contract. That $3.9 million amount matches what he will be making the next three seasons with his base salary and share of a retention bonus combined.

That retention bonus goes away after 2012-13 season, and Jurich said the new base amount is just designed to keep Pitino’s salary where it is.

Despite all the jokes, and notwithstanding the first-round NCAA loss to Morehead, Pitino did one of his better coaching jobs last season. He took a Louisville team picked to finish near the bottom of the Big East and ended up tied for third in arguably the nation’s best basketball conference. He did it without Jared Swopshire, who missed the season with injury. He also was without Rakeem Buckles for much of the season.

Louisville also beat both national champ UConn and national runner-up Butler last season.

Yes, John Calipari has seized the upper-hand as far as the in-state schools, but Pitino has done a better job recruiting at U of L than he had done previously. Plus, we know he can coach. I’m not about to write the guy off.

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6 Responses to “Louisville approves terms of Pitino contract extension”

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  1. 1 Chris August 9, 2011 3:14 pm at 3:14 pm

    “Yes, John Calipari has seized the upper-hand as far as the in-state schools, but Pitino has done a better job recruiting.”

    Uh, say what?! I can’t even think of an appropriate response. Perhaps a nifty chart and a reply will explain away the crazy of that statement.

  2. 2 John Clay August 9, 2011 3:32 pm at 3:32 pm

    Did not mean a better job than Calipari. Meant that Pitino has done a better job recruiting than he had previously done.

  3. 3 John Clay August 9, 2011 3:34 pm at 3:34 pm

    I’ve rewritten the sentence to clarify. Or hope I did.

  4. 4 unfair August 9, 2011 4:09 pm at 4:09 pm

    I hope his character is better this season.

  5. 5 CardHater August 9, 2011 4:57 pm at 4:57 pm

    He’s on the downward slide ..will never win anything at Little Brother…

  6. 6 Mark Liptak August 9, 2011 6:04 pm at 6:04 pm

    Rick has had some limited regular season success the past few years but honestly I’m a little surprised at this given what’s happened off the court to him and some of his players.

    Mark Liptak

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