Texas Basketball: 3 head coaching candidates to avoid at all costs

Candidates to avoid No. 2: Rick Pitino

By all indications, the Longhorns likely won’t hire someone like Yaklich to be their next head coach. Despite Yaklich having a solid resume backing him from his long tenure as a college hoops assistant coach, it will take more time for him to prove himself.

On the other end of the spectrum among potential Texas coaching candidates is former Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino. Currently the head coach of the Iona Gaels, Pitino got a job pretty soon after being dismissed post-controversy with Louisville. It was just back following the 2016-17 season that Louisville had dismissed Pitino.

Texas likely wouldn’t find a better coaching candidate out there this offseason that they could realistically hire than Pitino. But that hire would come with a large amount of baggage. Pitino has a college hoops head coaching resume that dates back to the mid-1970s. He’s won two National Championships, 10 regular season conference titles, and 13 conference tournaments.

To add to that resume, Pitino has appeared in 22 NCAA Tournament and seven Final Fours. He has a long and accomplished resume that saw him lead the way for programs like Louisville and the Kentucky Wildcats over the course of four decades.

Pitino might get a job elsewhere in the near future, as he already led Iona to win their conference tournament and make an appearance in the “Big Dance” this year. But that next landing spot for Pitino should probably not be on the Forty Acres.