Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, who will likely be wooed by the Boston Celtics this summer, indicated he will return to coach the Wildcats.
“What would be the motive to go someplace else?” he asked. “You know how big Kentucky is and . . . that they pay me well enough to stay. After eight years, I don’t think too many people pay attention to rumors.
“But I also saw on ESPN where Lou Holtz was saying, `I’ll never leave Notre Dame. I’ll be coaching here until they wheel me out.’
“Coaches sometimes talk too much.”
Big blue heaven: Kentucky fans turned the RCA Dome into their own Rupp Arena. Officials estimated that at least 30,000 of 47,000 seats were filled by UK supporters. Lexington, Ky., is only 167 miles from Indianapolis.
Leaving Arizona: Lute Olson, Arizona’s coach, twice was considered for the Kentucky job, in 1985 and again in 1989. The first time he actually went to Lexington for a look, but the second time he declined even that opportunity.
“I guess the turning point in that one was my wife had picked up two of the grandkids from school that day, and on the way home they said something to her about, `That’s OK if you and Papa Lute decide to go,’ while tears were streaming down their eyes,” Olson said. “For those of you who are grandparents, you’ll understand how that tugs at you. Family has always been very critical to us–four of our five kids live in Tucson–and that was why we decided that Arizona would be a good place for us to finish.”
Still, Olson called Kentucky “the epitome” of college basketball positions. Pitino ended up with the job in 1989.
Epitome, indeed: Asked if they had even received recruiting letters from Kentucky, Arizona’s players each said no–except for one. Freshman phenom Mike Bibby sheepishly said, “I did.”
It isn’t definite, but there could be an Arizona-Kentucky rematch within eight months.
The Maui Invitational has received commitments from Duke, Boston College, George Washington, Missouri, DePaul and . . . Arizona and Kentucky to play in the Nov. 24-26 holiday tournament.
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The brackets have yet to be determined, but chances are the organizers would arrange things so Arizona and Kentucky could meet in the final. As it stands now, Arizona is expected to be the preseason No. 1, with Kentucky not far behind.
Wishful thinking: Ever since Bibby gave away his defensive plan before the Providence game last week, he has been under wraps on all strategy questions. Otherwise, Arizona offered only jokes before playing Kentucky.
Guard Miles Simon was asked what advice he would give to Kentucky’s defenders. He joked: “I would just let us shoot a bunch of threes, back off and let the guards decide the game.”
As for breaking Kentucky’s press, Olson cracked: “We’re going to bring (center A.J.) Bramlett down and let him and (power forward) Bennett Davison bring the ball up against the pressure.”
Big Bird: Davison said that his father once was on a “Sesame Street” show about cable cars. Al Davison worked on cable cars for 30 years.
“He met my mom on a cable car,” Davison said. “He wrote a song for my mom–`Got to Find Love on a Cable Car.’ He’ll sing it for you if you ask him.”
Joking aside: Like their low-key coach, the Wildcats are not known as pranksters. But once they did let loose.
At an airport this season, teammates bet Davison he wouldn’t ride a luggage carousel for an entire circuit–including back into the work area. He did it, much to an airport official’s consternation.