Richard Pitino, the son of St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino, will coach in the Big East Conference for the first time as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers.
Pitino graduated from Providence, now a Big East rival of the Muskies.
He’s been a head coach at Florida International, Minnesota and New Mexico.
At 42 years old, Pitino is 14 years younger than the Muskies’ previous head coach, Sean Miller.
More about Richard Pitino, XU’s new head coach:
Pitino’s first job on a college basketball coaching staff was at Charleston, where Chris Mack is head coach.
Pitino worked as an assistant for the Cougars during the 2004-05 season.
Mack, a former Xavier player and coach who was believed to be the front-runner to replace Miller, announced Tuesday night that he’s returning for his second season as the Cougars’ head coach.
Pitino’s replacement at Minnesota was then-Xavier assistant Ben Johnson.
When the Golden Gophers fired Pitino, he got the New Mexico job less than 24 hours later.
Minnesota hired Ben Johnson, an XU assistant at the time under then-head coach Travis Steele.
The Golden Gophers parted ways earlier this week with Johnson after four seasons.
Pitino’s New Mexico squad defeated a Big East team in the NCAA tournament.
The Lobos’ first-round win against Marquette was the program’s first NCAA tournament win since 2011, and Pitino’s only win in the Big Dance as New Mexico’s head coach.
Xavier split with Marquette during the regular season, losing at Cintas Center but avenging that loss in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles ousted XU from the Big East tournament.
Donovan Dent, Pitino’s leading scorer this season, entered the transfer portal.
It is not known whether Dent will follow Pitino to Xavier, but many Musketeers’ fans will be hoping for that.
Dent, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, ranked 12th in Division I with 20.4 points per game.
Dent scored 21 points in the NCAA tournament win over Marquette, and 14 points in the Round of 32 loss to Michigan State.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Meet Richard Pitino, Xavier basketball head coach from New Mexico
