Pitino Says Louisville Will Remain in Big East | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Friday / March 29.
  • Pitino Says Louisville Will Remain in Big East

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    Louisville coach Rick Pitino says Louisville will remain in the Big East and won’t head to the Big 12.

    “I doubt it,” he said on Thursday’s Big East conference call. “I think that there was a chance last year but from what I understand some of the members of the [Big 12] conference don’t want to split the revenue and they want to stick at 11, so at least personally I’m hoping we stay put.

    “But you never know in this landscape today, I don’t decide those things.”

    Pitino was answering a question about Louisville’s game at West Virginia Feb. 11.

    “This is our third straight year that we have come to West Virginia,” he said. “I always request it every year. Generally you would see in the Big East that somebody would come back to you the following year, but [Big East Commissioner] John Marinatto’s a dear friend and I always tell him, ‘Look, don’t let West Virginia come to Louisville. I’d like to visit one more time.’

    “And now it adds extra meaning because they’re going into the Big 12 so it will be the last time we play against each other.”

    West Virginia and the Big East are suing one another over exactly when the school can depart the league for the Big 12. The league maintains that no school can leave before the 27-month exit period, which would be June 2014.

    Meantime, Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reports that Louisville is “aggressively pursuing a Big 12 invitation” to become the league’s 11th team.

    “They are clearly the best fit,” a college football industry source told McMurphy.

    Louisville would have to pay a $10 million exit fee to leave the Big East now that Navy is joining for football in 2015.

    In recent months, Pitino, a New York native, has openly taken shots at Syracuse and Pitt for leaving the Big East and at UConn for even considering it.

    In September, he told SNY.tv regarding UConn: “They’re leaving Camelot. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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