Rick Pitino was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1954. He is the only child of Italian American parents, who sent him to Catholic school. He went on to graduate from Canisius College in 1976 with a major in biology and minor in psychology. There he was involved in extracurricular activities including coaching basketball and baseball teams.
He began his coaching career at SUNY Brockport (1976), followed by the University of Rhode Island (1978-1981), where he coached basketball and baseball, before joining the staff at Providence College (1982-1985)
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There he was involved in the renovations of Alumni Hall, where Providence played its home games, and initiated the practice of having Providence play two home games each year at Alumni Hall.
He left Providence to coach at Florida International University (1985-1987), where he won four national championships in basketball during his tenure.
In 1987 he was hired by the University of Kentucky as an assistant coach under Rick Pitino Sr., but left after one season to join his father's staff at Boston University. He then moved on to Illinois State University for two years, where he coached basketball.
In 1991 he became head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats under Rick Pitino Sr., where he won the National Championship in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995. He also led them to the Final Four in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995.
The following year Rick Sr. left Kentucky to coach Louisville for five years before heading back to Kentucky again in 1999 to take over for Tubby Smith, but after one season Rick Jr. followed his father back to Louisville when Smith left for Texas A&M University.
Rick Jr. stayed with Louisville until February 2017 when they fired him after fourteen seasons as head coach
A few months later on April 6th 2017 Kevin Stallings was named head coach .