With all due respect to Lonzo Ball’s desire for Earl Watson to get the job and Bill Walton’s request that the school interviews Barack Obama, rich people with money at UCLA have their eyes set on someone with a little more college basketball coaching experience. According to Adam Zagoria of Forbes, a group of “influential boosters” want UCLA to target former Louisville coach Rick Pitino in their search Steve Alford’s successor.
Zagoria writes that two UCLA boosters are at the center of this, billionaire entertainment executive Casey Wasserman and entertainment lawyer John Branca. Wasserman throwing his support behind Pitino is especially big, as Zagoria was told he is “the most powerful person at UCLA” and was influential in the football program hiring Chip Kelly.
Boosters can play a major role in a coach getting hired, but Zagoria brings word that Pitino’s ties to the FBI’s investigation into college basketball could cost him a chance at getting the gig.
“What would have to happen is the UC Board of Regents would have to approve of Pitino,” the source said. “That’s the issue. That’s where the viability comes in because if the Regents shoot him down, then Pitino’s out.”
Not everyone is convinced UCLA would actually hire Pitino.
“I can’t see UCLA Deans and Professors and the UC System signing off on Pitino given the trail of carnage,” said a second source close to UCLA “The risk is so great that other skeletons can unexpectedly fall out of the sky.”
Pitino just landed his first job post-Louisville, joining Greek squad Panathinkaikos. He is reportedly “very interested” in coaching the Bruins, but Seth Davis of The Athletic believes it is a longshot he gets the gig.
I think Rick Pitino is a great coach, and in a lot of ways I think he has gotten a raw deal in being blamed for recent "scandals." But let's be clear: There is a better chance that Barack Obama will be UCLA's next coach than Pitino. I mean that literally.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) January 4, 2019
Still, we haven’t had a really good “people with money vs. people who have to live with the consequences of a decision” scenario in college basketball in a while, so seeing UCLA boosters go to bat over Pitino while the Board of Regents tries to keep him at arm’s length would be one heck of a battle.
(Via Forbes)
