I never thought I’d see the day where Rick Pitino was happy to come back to Kentucky.
This is a new era and it’s one that we’ve waited forever for.
He’s got his guy Mark Pope as head coach.
He’s giving money to his pal Mark Stoops and helping out with NIL.
Of course he had to wait out Calipari, this never happens if Cal is still here.
The relationship between Pitino and Kentucky has always been weird to say the least.
He brought us out of the darkest times.
He made Kentucky basketball matter again in the 90s.
He had a dynasty rolling before he left for a subpar job in Boston.
Left after back-to-back trips to the title game (and before a 3rd straight).
Instead he fails with the Celtics and takes the Louisville job.
He becomes the enemy and the rivalry reignites with the Calipari hire.
But that’s all the past.
He’s now here, ready to help coach in the game of the week.
Name another game this week where the two teams each have a top-10 win?
That’s Kentucky vs Vanderbilt.
Need Pitino on the sideline convincing Brad White to run some sort of defensive press scheme.
It’s what he does best.
40 minutes of hell turns into 60 minutes of hell.
Welcome home, Rick.
