The Pitino era is officially underway at Xavier University and the Cintas Center.
Returning to the Power 5 coaching level by way of New Mexico, Richard Pitino’s hiring turned plenty of heads around the nation when Xavier made the announcement just over a week ago. After the rocky departure of Sean Miller from the helm of Xavier’s basketball program, all eyes turned to Chris Mack.
As a former Xavier man, Mack was the favorite in many fan and basketball analysts’ eyes, as since the early 2000s, Xavier has held the tradition of trying to keep things within the Xavier family, always promoting an assistant coach within or bringing back a former coach that has had success both in Cincinnati and elsewhere. After a successful season at Charleston, the assumption was that Mack would return for a second stint at Xavier, especially given his accolades from his time in the Cintas Center, bringing about one of the greatest eras Xavier basketball has ever seen.
Instead, Xavier’s athletic director, Greg Christopher, looked in a different direction. For the first time in his tenure, Christopher made an external hire, securing Pitino as the next head coach for Xavier’s basketball program.
The relationship between Christopher and Pitino could not have gotten off to a better start, as both of them talked extensively during the introduction, not only about Pitino’s great success at New Mexico, but, maybe even moreso, about his failures at Minnesota, the head coaching position he held before his time in Albuquerque. Christopher especially discussed how impressed he was by Pitino’s response to being humbled after he was fired following his eight-year stint in Minneapolis, which had some highs, but far more lows. Pitino said he learned plenty at New Mexico in his response to this firing, but, mostly, he was taught how the success he had at New Mexico was built on a team effort. He was intentional in ensuring the fan base in attendance that it would be a group project to continue building a winning culture and program at Xavier, including everyone from the students in the arena, to the donors, to the university’s executive branch.
Pitino was also very thankful for the team he had around him at New Mexico and said it was the “best thing to ever happen to me.” Not only did the university support him and help him lead teams to back-to-back NCAA tournaments and back-to-back Mountain West conference championships, but it also helped Pitino shape his idea of what type of school he wanted to be at going forward.
“I wanted to be at a basketball school,” Pitino said, “and the Big East is the premier basketball conference, so Xavier was the perfect fit.”
It is clear that the excitement in the room was palpable from the fans in attendance, already looking forward to the first game of Pitino’s tenure in November. Pitino said he could feel the “special atmosphere” that the Cintas Center produced just in the room Tuesday afternoon. Now, Pitino is no stranger to playing in front of great fan bases, as New Mexico’s basketball arena, better known as “The Pit” is not only historic, but known for creating a raucous environment.
“I would not have left New Mexico unless it was for a place that played in front of amazing fans,” Pitino said. “That was something special for me to coach in an iconic building like The Pit and I was not going to go to a place unless they really, really cared about college basketball, and it is an advantage, but I do know there is nothing more special than walking out of a locker room and seeing 10,000 people pouring their heart and soul into helping you.”
The connection with the fan base continued to be a sticking point for Pitino throughout both the introduction and press conference. Getting to know the Xavier family was a key that Pitino mentioned, and the Xavier family getting to know him was also an important piece.
“I am going to do my very best to get to know the people that come to our games. I think they are going to see what we’re all about, and they’re going to understand that I want to represent them in a first-class manner,” Pitino said. “Our players are going to play extremely hard; that is something that our fans deserve, and you will not win if you don’t play hard in this conference, so we are going to work our butts off over the next couple months to put together a team and program that reflects this amazing fan base.
Needless to say, the feeling from the Xavier community is one of optimism, and Pitino and his staff have expressed nothing but excitement and the willingness to work hard towards the ultimate goal of winning championships.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2025.