Looking to blaze his own coaching trail
That’s what Richard Pitino made quite clear when he was a graduate assistant coach with the Friars
PROVIDENCE — The conversation took place one 2003 summer weekend amidst Saratoga’s busy high-stakes horse racing season.
Rick Pitino used the occasion to present an idea to thenProvidence College men’s basketball head coach Tim Welsh. His son Richard was on track to graduate from PC the following spring and was looking to expand his coaching horizons. Why doesn’t Richard stay put and join Welsh’s staff as a Friar graduate assistant for the 2004-05 season?
The request seemed reason- able enough that Welsh countered with his own suggestion. He had known Richard Pitino for many years, first as a youngster who sometimes ventured to Warwick Country Club when his dad was the head coach of the Boston Celtics. While at PC, Richard spent his summers lending a hand to Welsh’s basketball camp and his winters driving to Barrington’s St. Andrew’s to help the boys’ basketball team.
Welsh knew that Richard Pitino was no coaching neophyte. Instead of waiting a year per his father’s suggestion, why not push up the
process to now and have Richard spend his senior year in college as a student manager before pinning the graduate assistant tag on him?
“Rick wasn’t asking for any special favors. He said, ‘Next year,’’’ recalled Welsh, who coached the Friars for 10 seasons (19982008). “To me, there was no use waiting. Let’s get him going now. He’s already on campus.”
Fast forward to Monday night as Richard Pitino brings his 15th-ranked Minnesota club to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center to face his alma mater in conjunction with the third annual Gavitt Tipoff Games – an early-season, highprofile hoop series that pits teams from the Big East and the Big Ten.
To gain a true appreciation of just how far young Richard has climbed up the coaching ladder, it’s fair to anoint that 2003 casual conversation between Welsh and his dad as a very crucial building block when fast-forwarding what actually resulted. The son of a well-known coaching commodity could have probably walked into any room, said his name, and more than likely encountered a response along the lines of, “When can you start?”
In Richard Pitino’s case, he shared the same first and last name as his famous pop. That’s double the scrutiny and attention. To those who interacted with Richard during his two-year association with the Friar basketball program, his mindset was locked in on forging his own coaching path.
“You want to be your own person and Richard was always that way,” said Welsh. “He never spoke about his dad doing it this way or that way. I respected that about him, and that spoke to the way he was brought up. There’s paths to success that will automatically open doors, but then you have to walk through those doors and prove that you can do it your way. Richard did that from Day 1 with us.”
All aspiring coaches must start from the bottom of the barrel and work their way to the top. Why should Richard Pitino be any different with the Providence program just because his father was the architect of the Friars’ unexpected run to the 1987 Final Four?
“It certainly showed a glimpse of who he could become as a coach. He wasn’t resting on his laurels,” said Kevin Kurbec, a graduate assistant at Providence during Richard Pitino’s 2003-05 stint and nowadays the coordinator of Friar basketball operations under Ed Cooley. “He wanted to earn everything he got and do things the right way. He just didn’t want to get somewhere because he was Rick Pitino’s son. He really wanted to be part of the inside of a college basketball program in order to take that next step.”
The only holdup that Welsh saw with bringing Richard Pitino aboard a year sooner was taking him away from St. Andrew’s and longtime head coach Mike Hart. Once all par- ties understood that Richard’s learning curve as a prospective college coach would greatly benefit from experiencing a Big East program from the inside, the onus shifted to striking a balance between making sure young Richard understood the importance of earning his keep while also taking full advantage of his fertile basketball mind.
The tedious duties that all basketball managers are subjected to include doing the laundry and making sure the water jugs are always filled. It was clear early on that Richard craved more responsibilities with the Friars. If a player wanted to hoist up more shots after practice, Pitino would stick around and rebound. That enabled him to cultivate a good relationship with all the players, from the last guy on the bench to Ryan Gomes, PC’s star at the time.
“He did the dirty work that all managers do, but he would also do things on his own,” said Welsh. “He was very good with the players and understood what they needed to do to become successful.”
Inside the Providence basketball office at Alumni Hall, Richard Pitino would break down film on upcoming opponents. The process would start out by honing in on what Welsh and his assistants had their eyes on. Upon completing the task, Richard would put on his own scouting cap and delve deeper into what piqued his curiosity based on what he saw on the tapes.
“He would have free rein to find things and make notes,” said Kurbec.
Welsh told Rick Pitino that he planned to have his son sit in on coaches’ meetings. That may seem like a tall order for someone who had yet to receive his undergraduate degree, yet Welsh remembers Richard Pitino more than holding his own.
“I wanted to hear what he had to say and go with it,” said Welsh. “He knew his place, but I would also pick his brain.”
Welsh and Kurbec both stated the same thing – Richard Pitino has earned his current status as a 35-year-old head coach at a Big Ten school. That fact cannot be underscored, especially when taking into account his family lineage and believing that everything from a coaching vantage point was presented on a silver platter.
“There’s been a lot of pressure, but I’ve always been impressed with how he attacked the pressure,” said Welsh. “He’s been humble about it, but also confident in his own way.”
“He got to this point at a fairly young age, but it wasn’t because of the name,” said Kurbec. “It was because of what he brought to the table.”
A chip off the old coaching block? Perhaps, but every story has its origin. For Richard Pitino, his own personal cradle-tocareer journey can be traced back to two seasons spent with the Friars, an apprenticeship that looking back set him up well for the road ahead.
“In the two years he worked with us, he did all the right things that prepared him for the next step,” said Kurbec.