Sports
By Oliver Thomas, Staff Writer
Former University of New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino has been hired as the new head coach of the Xavier men’s basketball team after the departure of Sean Miller for the University of Texas at Austin.
Pitino, the son of St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, is coming to Xavier after a four-year stint with the University of New Mexico Lobos. He is coming off two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a win over Big East rival Marquette University in the round of 64 this past season. Pitino also took home the 2025 Mountain West Coach of the Year award after the Lobos were the Mountain West regular season champions.
“I am so very grateful for this opportunity,” Pitino said in his opening press conference at Xavier. “This job is very important to me, but the only thing that may be a little bit more important is my family.”
In 2024, Pitino won four games in four days at the Mountain West Tournament to secure an automatic bid that led the Lobos to their first tournament appearance in a decade.
“I would not be at a dream job like Xavier without the people at New Mexico,” Pitino said.
Before his time at New Mexico, Pitino coached at Florida International University for one season and then at the University of Minnesota from 2013 to 2021. During his time at Minnesota, Pitino took home an NIT championship in his first season with the Golden Gophers and won an NCAA Tournament game in 2019, something Minnesota had only done once since 1997.
New men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino and his family were introduced to Xavier nation on Tuesday when he shared his goals for his career ahead as a Musketeer.
Before becoming a head coach, Pitino coached under some of the best college basketball coaches in recent history. He was an assistant under legendary Florida coach Billy Donavan from 2009 to 2011. He also had two stints under his father at University of Louisville, during which he was an associate head coach for a Final Four appearance in 2011.
“Everytime I had an offer, he (Rick Pitino) told me to stay at New Mexico. He saw the way the community embraced me, he saw how much we were winning and he saw how happy I was,” Pitino said. “When Xavier called, he changed his tune. There was no bigger fan of taking Xavier than my dad.”
With 20 years of coaching experience, including over a decade as a head coach, Pitino has an incredibly strong resume, all while being the second youngest coach in the Big East right now at 42 years old.
The Musketeer faithful have been incredibly optimistic after this hire. After rebuilding a New Mexico program that was struggling for a decade, Pitino seems promising for the Musketeers.
He will have his hands full right off the jump, as he will have to build an almost completely new roster after five scholarship seniors are graduating, while losing another five scholarship players to the transfer portal. Roddy Anderson Jr. and Lassina Traore are the only scholarship players from last year’s team who are still on the roster.
“It’s very challenging to build a whole roster,” Pitino said. “We are going to be very patient. Every single player we speak to, we are going to have building a championship program in mind, not just a band or a quick fix.”
Thankfully for Xavier, Pitino has a history of getting through situations similar to Xavier’s current one. After his 2024 season at New Mexico, Pitino lost three of his four top scorers after his best season in his time with the Lobos. He went on to quickly rebuild his roster through the transfer portal and had an even better season after one of the best years in school history.
Along with the possibility of bringing some of his New Mexico players to Xavier, Pitino will also be bringing his entire coaching staff of Isaac Chew, Tarvish Felton, Aaron Katsuma and Davie Pilipovich with him. Xavier will be retaining assistant coach Dante Jackson, so there will still be a familiar face on next year’s staff.
“You (the fans) are going to be a part of our success. You’re going to get to know me, you’re going to get to know my family, you’re going to get to know the players,” Pitino said. “Everytime we play, you are going to know that we truly appreciate you and we’re not going to take you for granted.”
