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Rick Pitino’s highly anticipated return to Rupp Arena is officially in the works, and close to being finalized.
The former Kentucky basketball coach confirmed to NJ.com’s college basketball insider Adam Zagoria on Monday night that a home-and-home series between Pitino’s St. John’s Redstorm and the Wildcats is happening, and will begin in the 2025-26 college basketball season.
“For our 30th anniversary next year (of Kentucky’s 1996 National Championship team) we will go to Rupp (Arena) and they will return to MSG the following year (2026-27),” Pitino told Zagoria via text on Monday.
REQUIRED READING: Kentucky basketball schedule 2024-25: SEC slate for Mark Pope’s 1st year in Lexington set
Zagoria noted that while Pitino and his former captain of that 1996 National Championship team turned Kentucky coach Mark Pope, the Hall of Fame coach said contracts for the home-and-home series have not been signed yet.
“I’m dying for him to come back to this building so I can beat him,” Pope recently told CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on his “College Hoops Today” podcast. “Like, I’m dying. I’m dying. I’m dying to try and beat Coach, man. It’s gonna happen, we’ve just got to work through all those little pieces that get complicated. I just think so much about the basketball world would be right with Coach having at least one more chance to walk back into this building and let Big Blue Nation show how grateful they are for him and how much they love him.
“… What I really want is, I really want Coach to walk back into Rupp Arena because if there’s anything I’ve learned in the three weeks I’ve been here, could there be a fanbase that loves a coach more than Big Blue Nation loves Coach (Pitino)?”
The news of a St. John’s-Kentucky home-and-home, which will surely be one of college basketball’s marquee non-conference matchups in both 2025 and 2026, was first brought up by Pope during his introductory news conference when he said “Anybody down…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rick-pitino-reportedly-says-st-135033095.html
Author : The Courier Journal
Publish date : 2024-05-14 13:50:33
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