Word is swirling : wojo is gone

[naginiF]

My guess is that Louisville regrets firing Pitino more than they regret hiring him.  Will Wade, Bruce Pearl, Sean Miller....all continue to coach basketball.

That being said, I would be squemish about a Pitino hiring and I doubt there is any interest from the MU administration.

Years ago I sat next to a gentleman on a plane from Louisville to Miami who was wearing a Louisville booster pin. When I joked that we may not get along he said "We actually like Marquette. You are a fine academic institution that happens to play really good basketball. We are an athletic organization that happens to have some academics attached". I think that sums up the positioning pretty well.

[Eye]

My guess is that Louisville regrets firing Pitino more than they regret hiring him.  Will Wade, Bruce Pearl, Sean Miller....all continue to coach basketball.

That being said, I would be squemish about a Pitino hiring and I doubt there is any interest from the MU administration.

Best friend is a UL fan who I've been to nearly every MU - UL game with since '96. He's trade Mack for Pitino right now no questions asked.

[Galway Eagle]

No question on his managing a program that would win on the court. Where do you draw the line on "major issues" off the court?
- Recruiting violations? cash/gifts/sex
- Player issues with drugs?
- Player issues with campus police? MKE police?

Creating an environment where staff and players know they will be held accountable and are expected to do the right thing is a skill. One that I don't think he's shown that he has.

Basically what you are hoping for is 4-5 years of "make it a winner" and get out before the feds come. That is a pretty fine line to walk and one the institution has shown it doesn't have the stomach for.

Drugs I don't care about. In a different life era I've seen more than a couple MU players smoke weed.

Cash gifts shouldn't be as big of a deal with NIL.

Sex? I mean having it? paying for it? Paying for it for recruits and their parents? That's a broad question

I'd pretty much say don't steal from other students, keep what's in the bedroom consensual, to people of age, and in the bedroom.

[Pakuni]

Goose, I would hire Pitino in a second. He's the closest thing college basketball has had to Al in the last 30+ years. Turn the program over to him with direct orders that there will be no strippers or hookers, that he can't schtup anybody involved with Marquette (including nuns and priests), that he can't cheat at recruiting (much), and that he can't hire his son as an assistant. Otherwise, the program is his.

Have you read "The Scorpion and the Frog"?

[MU82]

MU82

Spot on about Rick. It would put MU on the map in two seconds and it would be an exciting era of MU ball.

Don't know about the others, but you and I are deadly serious here.

It has 0.001% chance of happening ... but girls can dream, right?

[SWARM!]

I would buy season tickets tomorrow if they brought in Pitino. Talk about completely reinventing your languishing program and getting back to what Marquette basketball should look like on the floor (speaking about more than results - swagger, intensity, intimidation).

Chances gotta be greater than zero, no?  Eh, probably not.

[MU82]

Have you read "The Scorpion and the Frog"?

No sir.

Sex? I mean having it? paying for it? Paying for it for recruits and their parents? That's a broad question

Leeve da broads outta dis, oona?

[naginiF]

Drugs I don't care about. In a different life era I've seen more than a couple MU players smoke weed.

Cash gifts shouldn't be as big of a deal with NIL.

Sex? I mean having it? paying for it? Paying for it for recruits and their parents? That's a broad question

I'd pretty much say don't steal from other students, keep what's in the bedroom consensual, to people of age, and in the bedroom.

I'm talking about all of the things that have been a part of Petino's past programs that are current NCAA violations.....cash for commitment/consideration, paying for recruits to have sex, etc.)

Not consensual premarital sex (though according to the Lovell thread there would be some opposition here to that), not NIL, etc.

[Pakuni]

No sir.

You should. It's germane.
https://www.bedtimeshortstories.com/the-scorpion-and-the-frog

[goldeneagle91114]

For an alumni base that likes to dump on ND for acting better than everyone, we sure seem to like to act better than everyone.

+1,000 we need to be honest with who we are, and what the Marquette Culture truly is. There seems to be ALOT of people on this board that still subscribe to the Larry Williams (convert MU to ND) model.

[GooooMarquette]

Noon ball or Th night beer league softball.  I know which I prefer.

Noontime drinker, eh?

[StillAWarrior]

I agree with you. I am not a fan of Pitino’s past transgressions, but have always been a fan of him as a coach when he wasn’t coaching against Marquette. He would be successful at MU. The question is can Marquette stomach the negative image that comes along with Pitino

I'm going to go out on a limb here and answer, "No."  I'm personally conflicted, but I can't imagine the administration would do it.

[Goose]

MU82

MU very likely would never look at, or hire, Rick Pitino and I think that would be a mistake. While I believe the odds of MU hiring Rick are correct, I am going to dream a little today. I miss "real" March basketball and I have always loved Rick's style of play. I have noted on here many, many times that he, and his style of play, are the closet thing to Al in the last thirty years.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I'd be shocked if Marquette fired Wojo.  But I hope to be shocked.  Some major cart before horse stuff going on in here tho. 

[jficke13]

I would love watching Rick's style of ball in blue and gold, I will, however, be very surprised if Wojo is fired, and stunned if we hired Pitino. I'm gonna file this one under "internet hysteria" until I start seeing press releases.

Too bad we can't take Pitino the coaching philosophy and cram him into the body of someone with less of a lifetime's demonstrated track record of being... uh... Pitino.

[StillAWarrior]

MU82

Spot on about Rick. It would put MU on the map in two seconds and it would be an exciting era of MU ball.

My honest statement of how I'd react if Marquette hired Pitino: I would publicly bemoan that Marquette had sold its soul for some basketball success...while hiding my excitement that the team was on its way back to respectability. I'm not proud of this, but it's true.

For the record, I think Marquette is almost as likely to hire me to coach MBB as it is to hire Pitino.

[JWags85]

I'd be shocked if Marquette fired Wojo.  But I hope to be shocked.  Some major cart before horse stuff going on in here tho.

Cart before the horse? Sure. But at least it’s hopeful positive chatter. The alternative is more apathy. We know what we have, we’ve seen 7 years of it.  The program just lost its top assistant.  Nobody is entering the program going into next year that would make anymore of a splash than the McD AA and former top 30 PG they added this year when the team finished under .500.

I’ll take hopeful and optimistic talk based on semi-spurious rumors as opposed to more bemoaning what the program has become and likely will be for another season

[NorthernDancerColt]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and answer, "No."  I'm personally conflicted, but I can't imagine the administration would do it.

As for stomaching Pitino’s past, I would hope that is not their lone calculus.
The better question is, “Can we stomach mediocrity eventually slipping into irrelevance?” The answer should be clear and simple: NO WE CANNOT.

I personally think Wojo can still get the job done here. [stones thrown-shield up] However, it is making the WRONG hire going forward which will banish us into sustained irrelevance.

Choosing Pitino &/or Baldwin would state that the university still values basketball success. Choose Baldwin, and you don’t have to worry about the squirminess.

MU82, I wouldn’t underestimate Pitino’s lobbying skills. I also wouldn’t underestimate our administration’s willingness to listen.

[fjm]

Pitino would be fun.

But Wojo is still the coach.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Cart before the horse? Sure. But at least it’s hopeful positive chatter. The alternative is more apathy. We know what we have, we’ve seen 7 years of it.  The program just lost its top assistant.  Nobody is entering the program going into next year that would make anymore of a splash than the McD AA and former top 30 PG they added this year when the team finished under .500.

I’ll take hopeful and optimistic talk based on semi-spurious rumors as opposed to more bemoaning what the program has become and likely will be for another season

Yep

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Cart before the horse? Sure. But at least it’s hopeful positive chatter. The alternative is more apathy. We know what we have, we’ve seen 7 years of it.  The program just lost its top assistant.  Nobody is entering the program going into next year that would make anymore of a splash than the McD AA and former top 30 PG they added this year when the team finished under .500.

I’ll take hopeful and optimistic talk based on semi-spurious rumors as opposed to more bemoaning what the program has become and likely will be for another season

Sure.  But Marquette probably isn't going to fire Wojo, soooooooo. 

[MU82]

MU82, I wouldn’t underestimate Pitino’s lobbying skills. I also wouldn’t underestimate our administration’s willingness to listen.

Sounds like you are more in the know about how the administration thinks than I am, so I hope you're right.

I obviously agree about Pitino's lobbying skills. Strikes me as the kind of guy who could sell mink coats to PETA.

[WarriorPride68]

Wojo is 100% back. book it. move along

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Jesum Crow people. Pitino ran a brothel for his players. He will never be our coach.

All you are doing is setting yourselves up to be upset when either a) Wojo is retained or b) Wojo is fired and we don't even look up Pitino's phone number. At least find some reasonable possibilities to be disappointed about.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Marquette would hire Richard Pitino before Rick.