Richard Pitino’s Extension Is Good For Golden Gophers

Maybe Richard Pitino really is here to stay? The fact that you might not want him to be the head coach of the Golden Gophers is another thing entirely.  The Gophers coach was handed an extra $400,000 reportedly and a couple extra years on his contract, as well.

This all coming down just a day after Richard’s father, Rick Pitino, was given an extension at the University of Louisville that will keep the senior Pitino in the state of Kentucky through at least the 2025-2026 season.

Richard Pitino’s time at the University of Minnesota has been an interesting adventure thus far with every Golden-heart thinking the coach will bolt for the next job ever since he signed on the dotted line in Minnesota. To the worried’s credit, Pitino was linked to both the Alabama and Florida jobs this offseason alone.

Pitino’s success has varied, too. In his first season here, Pitino lead the Gophers to a NIT championship, but failed to reach postseason play in this last season which was incredibly odd when looking at the past NIT champions. Typically, NIT champions make the NCAA tournament the following year.

The Big Ten record is not as pretty as it should be, 14-22 in two seasons, but the overall record of 43-28 is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you forget about the absolute cupcakes the Gophers decide to beat up every early season. Despite all of this, there are reasons to be hopeful for Pitino and the Gophers.

The Gophers have a top 40 recruiting class coming in with seven players and it’s another year under Pitino’s system and getting ‘his guys’ in the program.

Winning in the Big Ten isn’t easy and the public has had an interesting relationship with Pitino from the start, but he’s worth extension. Pitino has learned under two of the best college coaches of all-time in his father and Billy Donovan, let’s give Pitino some time and it’ll all work out.

Plus, he’s only 32. There’s professional athletes in this town that are older than Pitino.