Rick Pitino Should Have Been Fired A Long Time Ago

All college basketball programs are not created equal. Some of these programs are used as stepping stones. Some are dream jobs. Some are stepping stone programs but believe they are dream jobs. It’s like that girl at the bar who thought she was the prettiest girl in the room, but she wasn’t. Some people can’t see what they actually are.

The Louisville Cardinals basketball program is a dream job. The Cardinals are an elite program. The Cardinals matter to college basketball; and every year, they lure great players there. They’ve won multiple national championships. They have one of the most polarizing coaches in sports. They are a big deal; and after joining the ACC, they had no choice but to become a bigger deal.

Unfortunately, they’re now the subject of scandal. This scandal has been covered brilliantly here for a while now. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know what’s going on.

Here’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s extremely difficult to believe that this news escaped one of the most brilliant minds in the country. It’s almost impossible to believe that one guy most of us have never heard of financed these parties and did so using his own money. It’s doubtful that 20 or more of these parties happened in a dormitory located on campus and no one saw anything. Guys talk. Especially young guys.

On more than one occasion, we’ve been told of how brilliant Rick Pitino is and how he knows everything about this program. The Cardinals consistently lure the best players in this country to play for them. When a coach walks into that kid’s home to recruit, he has his stuff together. They’ve done their homework. They know how to act. They know what to say. The point is this isn’t college football with a hundred athletes and several coaches to monitor. This is college basketball. There are fewer players. Each one’s role is huge, and losing one key component can mean the season is over. Trust me. They know exactly what they’re doing at all times.

It’s tough to fire the legendary coach. As fans, all they want to see is their team succeed; and some will defend their coach to no end as long as the program is successful. We’re questioning morals now, though. The spotlight is on a proud university, and in the cross-hairs stands a coach who has seen his share of controversy on more than one occasion — he denied guilt and was defended then, too. Are we to believe now that he’s innocent of this with his track record? Isn’t that what happened last time? Didn’t the truth surface then too?

Think about it.

Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.