Report: Rick Pitino In Talks To Coach Greek National Team, Giannis Antetokounmpo
SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 22: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals signals in the first half of the game against the Northern Iowa Panthers during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KeyArena on March 22, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Rick Pitino's last coaching job was with Greek club Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague. The team wanted to keep the former college and NBA head coach, but he decided to return to the United States to pursue domestic coaching opportunities.
Those did not come. Pitino publicly lobbied for a job, and admitted how much he'd love to head back to the Providence Friars, in the event that Ed Cooley had taken the Michigan job, which ultimately went to Juwan Howard.
He remains unemployed entering the fall. Now, it sounds like a return to Greece is in play, with an expanded role.
Lithuanian basketball journalist Donatas Urbonas, whose name you may remember from the Ball family saga in Eastern Europe, reports that Pitino could return to coach Panathinaikos, with whom he won the Greek Basketball Cup last year.
He also says that Rick Pitino is in talks to coach the Greek National Team, with sights on the Olympics. That would give him the chance to lead a team featuring NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. He cites the Greek newspaper Sportime in his tweets.
It isn't a high profile college or NBA job, but it may be the best chance Pitino has to coach a top-level basketball talent, and prove that he can get the most out of him on a big stage.
Pitino told Greek site gazzetta.gr that he will be in Athens in November to "visit some friends," but would not confirm that he would be meeting with the country's basketball federation.
Per TalkBasket.net, an international hoops site, if Pitino takes the job, he is only expected to coach top tournaments like EuroBasket and the Olympics, while head coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos would lead the team in less significant tournaments like the EuroBasket qualifiers.
