Richard Pitino is taking the head coaching position at Xavier, leaving New Mexico after four seasons. An agreement was finalized and officially announced on Tuesday night.
Pitino, 42, will replace Sean Miller, who left the Musketeers to become the head coach at Texas. Miller went 65-40 in his second stint at Xavier with two NCAA tournament bids. The Musketeers lost their first-round game versus Illinois in this year’s tourney.
At New Mexico, Pitino compiled an 88-49 record in Albuquerque with two NCAA tournament berths, a regular season Mountain West championship and conference tournament title. The Lobos went 27-8 before upsetting Marquette in a first-round South region matchup, then losing to Michigan State in the second round.
Pitino had also been in contact with Villanova and West Virginia regarding their head coaching openings, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. He will get a six-year contract with Xavier, Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reports.
Prior to his stint at New Mexico, Pitino coached eight seasons at Minnesota, putting together a 141-123 record with two NCAA tournament appearances. He was fired after the 2020-21 season, during which the Golden Gophers finished 14-15.
Pitino began his college head coaching career at Florida International, where he went 18-14 in his lone season before leaving for Minnesota. He worked as an assistant coach for seven seasons at Charleston, Northeastern, Duquesne, Louisville and Florida before returning as associate head coach under his father, Rick Pitino, at Louisville.
With Rick Pitino now at St. John’s, father and son will face each other at least twice a season in the Big East conference. Pitino coached the Red Storm to regular season and conference tournament titles this season and a first-round win over Omaha in this year’s NCAA tournament before taking an upset loss to Arkansas.
