Frank Franklin II/Associated Press Men's college basketball fans surely noticed during Selection Sunday when Louisville was matched up with Minnesota in the East Region, but the primary link connecting the two schools reportedly won't be in attendance during Thursday's game. According to Jody Demling of Cardinal Authority, Rick Pitino will not make the Thursday afternoon showdown because Panathinaikos—the team he coaches in Greece—has a game scheduled for Wednesday night. Louisville fired Pitino in 2017 and just so happened to draw a matchup against a Golden Gophers squad that is coached by his son, Richard, in its first NCAA tournament since dismissing the legendary coach. "It's the elephant in the room," Louisville coach Chris Mack said of the situation, per Demling. "I coach a few guys who played for Rick Pitino and we're playing against his son. ... I can't control what people are going to talk about, but you can only beat a dead horse for so long." Video Play Button Videos you might like Mack took over the Cardinals before the 2018-19 season after nine years with the Xavier Musketeers and led them to a 20-13 record and No. 7 seed in the Big Dance. He has a long way to go to catch the elder Pitino, who won a national championship, reached three Final Fours and finished 416-143 in 16 seasons with the Cardinals before NCAA sanctions stripped away some of his wins and vacated the 2013 title. Despite the impressive record and accomplishments, Pitino's tenure with Louisville was at least in part defined by the off-court scandals that embroiled the program. He was fired as the program was in the crosshairs of the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption. The Associated Press (h/t USA Today) noted the NCAA also punished Louisville after "escort Katina Powell alleged in a book that former Cardinals staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with players and recruits in the team's dormitory from 2010-14." As for Richard Pitino, this is his sixth season with Minnesota. He is still looking for his first NCAA tournament victory, although he won the 2014 NIT. The victor of Thursday's game will likely play second-seeded Michigan State in the second round and could have to face overall No. 1 seed Duke later in the regional if it keeps winning.<doc-sep>Oh that NCAA and their sense of humor. Or sense of drama. Minnesota will open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against Louisville in Des Moines, Iowa. Storylines? Oh there are a few.... Obviously Richard Pitino's father Rick Pitino was the coach at Louisville from 2001 to 2017 before Rick Pitino was "fired for cause" on October 16th of 2017. Pitino won a national title at Louisville in 2013. It's been reported that Coach Rick Pitino is currently suing Louisville over the termination. Richard Pitino coached for his father Rick Pitino at Louisville three seasons (2007-08, 2008-09, and 2011-12) before being a head coach at Florida International and Minnesota. Richard Pitino has obviously spent a fair amount of time on the Louisville campus considering his father coached the program for 16 seasons. Another storyline is Gopher center Matz Stockman, a red-shirt transfer senior who transferred from Louisville to the University of Minnesota two seasons ago. You also have Minnesota fans from the Twin Cities who will take to I35 in big numbers making the four hour trip south to Des Moines, Iowa for the Regional. Former Louisville Cardinals center Matz Stockman (5) dunks against Pittsburgh "We are excited to be a part of the NCAA Tournament again," Richard Pitino said after his team was chosen as a ten seed. "Two out of the last three years is something that we are really proud of. To be able to bounce back from all of those injuries and the expectations of last year with five new players and injuries of our own. With adversity of our own this year. To be able to finish as strong as we did. To go into a single elimination tournament knowing that we needed to win maybe a game. "To be able to go get Penn State, one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten. And to be able to go get Purdue who we had just played. It was really really tough. It showed great grit on the part of our guys. This is what you dream of as a coach and this is what they dream of as players." Minnesota is playing in their 14th NCAA Tournament as a program. This is Richard Pitino's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament as Gopher Head Coach. In 2016-17 Minnesota (24-10) was a 5 seed and lost to 12 seed Middle Tennessee 81-72. Minnesota also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2013 (defeated UCLA, lost to Florida), 2010 (lost to Xavier), 2009 (lost to Texas), 2005 (lost to Iowa State), 1999 (lost to Gonzaga), 1997 (defeated SW Texas State, Temple, Clemson, and UCLA, lost to Kentucky in Final Four), 1995 (lost to St. Louis in overtime), 1994 (defeated Southern Illinois, lost to Louisville), 1990 (defeated UTEP, Northern Iowa, and Syracuse, lost to Georgie Tech in the Elite Eight), 1989 (defeated Kansas State and Siena, lost to Duke), 1982 (bye, defeated Chattanooga, lost to Louisville), and 1972 (lost to Florida State). This will be the third time that Minnesota faces Louisville in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals knocked the Gophers out in 1982 and 1994. In the 1982 game Randy Breuer and Trent Tucker each had 22 points but Lancaster Gordon scored 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting. In 1994 Dwayne Morton scored 24 points to lead Louisville over the Gophers despite 20 points on four threes from Voshon Lenard and 14 points from David Grimm. Richard Pitino's first question after seeing his opponent during a gathering at Athlete's Village, it was "Coach are you familiar with your opponent?" "I don't really know the team that well but obviously I know Louisville really well," Pitino said after an initial laugh. "I know they have fifth year seniors. I haven't watched much of them yet. Obviously there is that storyline but I haven't watch much of them. I know Chris Mack is a terrific coach and I know they had a terrific year." Then there was of course a question about Richard's father Rick Pitino. "Has he talked about Louisville in the past couple years, yes he has," Richard Pitino said. "Not in the most positive way. But you know, this game is not going to be about me. I'm not going to be talking about revenge or anything like that. This is about these players and this program. We worked really hard to be a part of the 19 percent that makes the NCAA Tournament in college basketball. "That is what this is going to be about. It's going to be about Jordan Murphy, one of the best players to ever play (at Minnesota). Dupree (McBrayer) to be able to fight through the adversity with his mother. Matz Stockman losing his father. Brock Stull coming here from Milwaukee. That's what this is going to be about, I'm excited to make it about that, and that is what it should be about." Minnesota is 21-13 on the season with highlight wins over Washington, Purdue (twice), Iowa, and Wisconsin among others. Louisville is 20-13 on the season with a 10-8 ACC record. Louisville's top wins are against Seton Hall, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Michigan State. Six-foot-7 sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cards in scoring (17.2 a game) and rebounding (7.5) plus he shoots 37 plus percent at the arc. Louisville is coached by Chris Mack. Rick Pitino was the Head Coach at Louisville and with him recruiting several of these Cardinal players you know that father will give son from friendly advice.<doc-sep>As if determined to call attention to a bad breakup, a pending lawsuit, an ongoing investigation and an embittered coach unable to find work in his own country, the NCAA Tournament’s Selection Committee has paired the University of Louisville and Richard Pitino’s Minnesota Gophers in the first round of its men’s basketball tournament Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Subtext abounds. Pitino’s father, Rick, is the Hall of Fame coach who led Louisville to the 2013 NCAA Tournament championship, only to see that title vacated as part of the NCAA’s penalties for sex parties in U of L’s basketball dormitory. This is the same Rick Pitino who was later fired in the fallout from the FBI’s investigation of an alleged recruiting bribery scheme; the same Rick Pitino who is suing Louisville for breach of contract, who vows to “kill them at trial” and claims “they are killing me from getting hired with their inferences.” More columns: Read more commentary from columnist Tim Sullivan This is not your typical first-round game between No. 7 and No. 10 seed. It is so atypical, in fact, that you can only conclude the Selection Committee has developed a wicked sense of humor. "The NCAA showed a lack of class matching Louisville vs Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament," former U of L star Jerry Eaves Tweeted Sunday night. "I believe it’s unfair to Coach Pitino and Coach (Chris) Mack!" Louisville and Minnesota have been periodically matched in recent bracket projections, and as the two teams settled onto their seed lines, the possibility of them being paired in the first round grew increasingly likely. Tournament procedures are designed to avoid regular-season rematches and to prevent conference rivals from meeting before the Sweet 16 round. As committee members strive for competitive balance within the bracket, they also weigh the demands posed by distance on teams and their followers. That said, is there any way Louisville playing a Pitino could have happened without fans suspecting the fix was in? “It’s not going to be about me,” Richard Pitino told reporters in Minnesota. “I’m not going to be: ‘It’s revenge’ or anything like that. It’s about our players, it’s about this program. We worked really, really hard to put ourselves in position to be one of the 19 percent that gets to make the NCAA tournament in college basketball.” His dad may not be so diplomatic. The pairings were announced after midnight Athens time, so Rick Pitino may have decided to withhold comment until he had the opportunity to sleep on the news. He did not immediately respond to a text message from the Courier Journal or post any provocative comments on his Twitter feed. Yet though the elder Pitino has repeatedly said coaching EuroLeague basketball has enabled him to get past the bitterness he has felt over his firing at U of L, he has rarely hesitated to revisit his grievances. Asked last week if he had anything scheduled concerning his litigation, he said he had not, but called the trial, his “only redemption.” He subsequently sent a series of text messages indicative of open wounds. “Their inferences make me look guilty,” Pitino wrote of U of L’s legal maneuvering. “It really doesn’t matter anymore, but I’ll tell you 100 percent the God’s honest truth, I’m the cleanest guy in college basketball but also the dumbest for trusting people to follow my beliefs.” Probably not his last words on the subject.<doc-sep>
The Gophers men’s basketball team learned Sunday its NCAA tournament seeding, location and opponent. That final fact provided the juiciest story line. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino will face Louisville, the school his father, Rick Pitino, is suing for about $40 million after he was fired in October 2017 amid links to scandals. Rick Pitino is seeking the dollar amount left on his contract through 2026, while the school contends it fired him with cause and should not have to pay. After a 2015 escort scandal cost Rick and Louisville their 2013 national championship, Rick was linked to an FBI investigation into bribery recruiting schemes. Since the start of his tenure at Minnesota in 2013, Richard said he never wanted to play Louisville while his hall of fame dad coached the Cardinals. Now heading into Thursday’s matchup between No. 10 Minnesota and No. 7 Louisville in Des Moines, Iowa, Richard will be thrust into dealing with his father’s checkered legacy. Former Louisville player Jerry Eaves, now the athletics director at Simmons College of Kentucky, pointed a finger at the Selection Committee: “The NCAA showed a lack of class matching Louisville vs Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament,” he tweeted. “I believe it’s unfair to Coach Pitino and (current) Coach (Chris) Mack!” Richard, too, has connections with Louisville as an assistant coach under Rick during two runs to the Elite Eight 2008 and 2009, and after two years at Florida, he came back for a Final Four run in 2012. “Some great memories. Some tough memories,” Richard said Sunday. “Being an assistant coach there, being a (coach’s son) there. Obviously, some great ones. Didn’t end well, which is very unfortunate, but to me the story here is about our players and our program and the adversity that they fought through.” Richard pivoted to how senior forward Jordan Murphy will go down as one of the greatest Gophers ever and how senior guard Dupree McBrayer has continued to play after the death mother in December. “We can’t make it all about coach P,” McBrayer said. “… We can’t make it all about the Pitino family. This is a team game, and it’s going to be really heartfelt and of course we want to get the win for him.” During this season, Rick visited the Gophers before he accepted a coaching job with Panathinaikos in Greece in December. From afar, he’s been following the Gophers’ season, tweeting about their pair of wins in the Big Ten tournament last week in Chicago, which sealed Minnesota’s inclusion in the Big Dance. On Sunday, Richard initially deflected about what his dad has shared about his falling out with Louisville. “I think he’s sleeping right now ’cause he’s in Greece,” Richard said Sunday evening, accounting for about the time difference to Europe. “Has he talked about Louisville in the last two years? Yeah,” Pitino added. “Not in the most positive light.” Rick has previously said he’s going to “kill them at trial,” according to the Louisville Courier Journal. “They are killing me from getting hired with their inferences.” So then, does this game have added meaning for Richard? “It’s not going to be about me; I’m not going to make that about me,” Richard said. “I’m not going to be, ‘Oh, it’s revenge,’ or anything like that. It’s about our players and it’s about this program. We worked really, really hard to put us in a position to be one of the 19 percent that gets to make the NCAA tournament in college basketball. That’s what it’s going to be about.” Three other No. 7 seeds were announced Sunday, and for Pitino none of them has the connections like Louisville. “I don’t get to choose,” Richard said. “If I did, I’d want a one seed, in Minnesota. I’m grateful to be a part of this. This is — I’m lucky. I’m 36 years old. I’m a head coach at a great place. There’s not going to be one complaint from me. You will never hear it because I’m grateful to be a part of it.”