Louisville’s Rick Pitino expects another hostile reception Saturday when he returns to Rupp Arena for the second time as coach of Kentucky’s top rival.
Two years ago the fans who revered Pitino when he coached the Wildcats in 1989-97 showered him with taunts. By the end of the Wildcats’ 82-62 victory, the crowd was chanting “TUB-BEE! TUB-BEE!” in a salute to Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
Pitino said the only thing he remembers thinking about that day was his brother-in-law and best friend, Billy Minardi, who died four months earlier in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
“I was devastated when I walked in there and it wasn’t because of all the booing of me. I expected that,” Pitino said. “It was just a terrible, terrible time in my life.”
Pitino wants his 20th-ranked Cardinals (6-1) to embrace the atmosphere, not dread it, when they face No. 2 Kentucky (7-0).
“It’s easy playing at home, where everybody cheers for you,” Pitino said. “Going into that environment and executing in the toughest conditions, that’s fun.”
Fleming’s future
Latrell Fleming, who was diagnosed with a heart condition two years ago that forced him to give up playing at Wisconsin, prefers to look toward the future rather than dwell on what might have been.
“The thing I hate the most is when I see people I know in the mall and they’re like, `Man, if you were playing …,”‘ he says. “I don’t really like that because I’m fine with it. There are other things to life besides basketball. That’s how I’m feeling.”
