Boeheim brought his former assistant and current book hawker to speak with the Orange.
As every Syracuse Orange fan knows — by way of how many times the story’s been repeated over the years — Jim Boeheim once called former assistant Rick Pitino on his wedding night to go on a recruiting trip.
It’s one of many pieces of proof that coaches are weird, and that Jim may be even weirder at times. The story also provides the backdrop for the friendship between the two men, which continues to this day despite Pitino being removed from the Louisville Cardinals’ coaching job last year.
Since we know Boeheim always goes to bat for his friends, it should’ve come as no surprise that the former Cardinals coach-turned-author/tweeter was on campus on Tuesday to catch up on old times, eat at Varsity Pizza and of course, speak with the impressionable youths on Jim’s basketball team.
Spent two days with Syracuse basketball team and staff @Cuse_MBB. Great attitude and deepest Cuse team in years. They will be more explosive offensively. It won’t be in the hands of the selection committee this year. This is a legit top 25 team. pic.twitter.com/3NeXBJlB0R
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) September 26, 2018
So what nuggets of wisdom might Pitino have shared with Syracuse? We came up with several pieces of advice he was likely willing to impart:
- Try a box of Pitweetos today. No it’s not a real cereal, but the money that went to recruits wasn’t “real” either. But back to cereal: I’ll happily sell you some Pitweetos. Would you like to buy some?
- I’m opening a new club called Minardi Hall. It’s an up-scale joint. Some may say it’s members only. Have any friends in the Louisville area. Please give them my card.
- Funneling money to recruits is fine if you don’t do the funneling and they ultimately don’t end up playing for your program.
- ... Speaking of which, that never happened.
- You’ve won as many NCAA Championships as your heart says you have.
- Papa John is a friend and a mentor, and I would personally like to announce my candidacy as the new Papa. I look forward to the election and my appearance in front of the Papal Council.
- Adidas is a terrible company. Stick with Nike.
- Buy my book.
- You can do anything for 15 seconds if you put your mind to it.
Now, players might be a little confused by all of this. But Jim Boeheim himself once provided the perfect response to any and all of the ideas above:
“Rick’s full of [it] if that’s what he really said.”
