Video: Coach Pitino On Katz’s Corner

Rick Pitino was a guest last night on Katz’s Korner with ESPN senior college basketball writer Andy Katz. Other guests that appeared on the show include John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Gottfried (NC State), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), Johnny Dawkins (Stanford) and Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Dan Muller (Illinois State), Donnie Tyndall (Southern Miss), Stan Heath (South Florida), Buzz Williams (Marquette) and Mark Turgeon (Maryland).

Here is a brief recap of Pitino’s interview from ESPN.com:

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said that he has been energized coaching this recent Cardinals crew the past two seasons. Pitino also clarified on Katz Korner that he will coach until his contract were to run out, which happens to be in 2017. He said if his deal were to have run out in 2021 he would have said the same thing. He didn’t seem like he was ready to retire anytime soon. If he were offered an extension it doesn’t sound like Pitino would say no. He simply isn’t projecting like someone who is nearing the end. Pitino also overly praised the job done by his rival John Calipari. Pitino said he didn’t think a team dominated by one-and-done players could win a title, until Calipari accomplished the feat in April (by beating Louisville in the national semifinal before taking down Kansas). Pitino said the biggest surprise so far in workouts has been guard Kevin Ware. Pitino said it probably wasn’t fair to him to bring him in midseason. Ware didn’t log too many minutes, averaging just 5.3 a game. But Ware has already made an impact on Pitino as a potential serious rotation player for a possible Final Four squad.