Audio By Carbonatix
Rick Pitino has not coached in the NBA since his five-year stint with the Boston Celtics during the turn of the millennium, but he has been coaching professional athletes on the collegiate level since 2021. The 71-year-old is glad.
What does he mean by that? The answer is simple.
Pitino was fired at Louisville in 2017, returned to the sideline in the United States with Iona prior to the 2020/21 season. He led the Gaels to the NCAA Tournament in year one, won 25 games in year two, and returned to March Madness after winning 27 games in year three.
Upon arrival to New Rochelle, New York, college basketball players were amateurs caught in limbo of the intentionally equivocal term “student-athletes.” They were neither sportsman at work nor students playing sport.
Everything changed on July 1, 2021. Athletes are now allowed to profit from their Name, Image and Likeness. They can be paid while still in school.
Although it was initially intended to provide athletes with a little extra money on the side, it quickly became something much bigger with NIL collectives. Athletes are essentially signing a contract with a third-party entity that pays them lucrative sums of money in exchange for often-limited return.
It is almost exactly like how a professional athlete signs with an organization. College sports, especially football and men’s basketball, are no longer amateur sports.
Rick Pitino recognizes that reality.
He is glad for it, even if it changes everything.
However, he — and other coaches across the college sports landscape — are still adapting to the new era. It requires an increased emphasis on recruiting. It requires a much deeper understanding of roster management. The turnover is ceaseless. Players are in a constant state of ebb and flow.
We are now coaching professional athletes on one-year contracts.
— Rick Pitino on WFAN
Now, in his first year at St. John’s, Pitino is expected to make the NCAA Tournament. A team that has not won 20 games or reached March Madness since 2018/19 is poised to make a massive jump.
Not only because Rick Pitino is in charge. Because of the talent on the roster.
Most of it is new.
Pitino used the transfer portal to overhaul the majority of its roster. A few players came over from the Ivy League. Some came over from mid-majors. Others switched Power Five schools during the offseason.
None of that would be possible without:
- The Transfer Portal
- NIL
Pitino is coaching professional basketball. It just so happens to be on the collegiate level.