Rick Pitino didn’t use the word “retire,” but he said Tuesday that 2016-17 will be his last season as a basketball coach.
“When you’re 59, you’re realistic that you don’t have a whole lot of years left,” Pitino said before the No. 4 Cardinals played No. 12 Georgetown on Wednesday. “My contract’s going to run out in 2017. I’m not coaching anymore after that.”
Pitino has led three programs — Providence, Kentucky and Louisville — to the Final Four, and has also coached the Knicks and Boston Celtics.
He was given a four-year contract extension in August and will make $3 million in base salary until the end of the 2013 season. After that, he makes $3.9 million annually.
Pitino is 253-96 in his 11th season at Louisville, which reached the Final Four in 2005.
After Georgetown, Louisville plays Kentucky Saturday.
“One thing I’ve learned to do with my age, I really don’t look ahead,” said Pitino, who went 219-50 in eight seasons at Kentucky and won the 1996 national championship. “For years, I’ve been preaching the precious present and having to always subscribe to it.”
(The AP contributed)
