The Big East preseason player of the year sat by himself in a room in Madison Square Garden. So did highly touted and sometimes controversial West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. And Georgetown coach John Thompson sat there unbothered for a while as well.
At Big East media day Wednesday, only one table was the popular one.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino, a native New Yorker, strode into the interview room and faced a crowd of reporters.
Since finishing last season as the Big East champions and in the Elite Eight, stories out of Louisville have been more suited for “Entertainment Tonight” than Big East Monday night games.
“You guys and ladies look in the mirror and have difficult times in your life,” Pitino said. “I’m no different from you.”
Pitino, a married father of five, brought information about an alleged extortion attempt by Karen Cunagin Sypher to the FBI.
Consequently, the investigation revealed Pitino admitted to having sex with her at a Louisville restaurant and offered her money to cover health insurance costs when she told him she was pregnant.
With the season tipoff against Arkansas just 3 1/2 weeks away, Pitino said he is focused …
On finding a way to make up for the loss of NBA lottery draft picks Terrence Williams and Earl Clark. On climbing back up the Big East rungs again after being selected fourth in the conference preseason rankings. On taking down rival Kentucky and its new coach John Calipari Jan. 2 at Rupp Arena.
But with Sypher facing federal charges of extortion, it’s not exactly case closed for Pitino and Louisville.
“There will be no more distractions,” he said. “I owe it to my team. There may be for a few hours one day a personal distraction on my part. What you all fail to realize in recruiting it hasn’t come up one time in one phone call. … The players and the recruits, all they’re interested in is their future. Making their lives better for their family someday, becoming the best player they can possibly be, winning games. That’s really what they’re tuned into.”
Some players are trying to put behind their own personal predicaments.
Forward Terrence Jennings and senior guard Jerry Smith pleaded guilty to resisting law enforcement and each were given a one-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
Pitino didn’t suspend them but said he put them through harsh punishments that probably made them wish he had.
“I’ve had 50 things worse happen at Providence. I’ve had 100 things worse happen at Kentucky,” Pitino said of two of his previous coaching stops. “The young men knew where they made their mistakes.”
Pitino, a horse racing enthusiast, has tried to employ some lessons from the race track.
He once asked a prominent horse trainer about the blinders the racehorses wear. He couldn’t believe that horses could become distracted during a race.
“Many times people, when they have great success, get distracted,” he said. “Many times when they face adversity, they get distracted. It affects you both ways. You have to follow your path and stay focused on where you’re trying to get with your team.”
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sryan@tribune.com
