Rick Pitino takes shot at Louisville after attending Big Blue Madness

On Friday, Rick Pitino left fans in awe when he took the court at Big Blue Madness, joining numerous other Kentucky alumni, including several members of his 1996 national championship team. After the event, a reporter asked Pitino if he’d thought he’d ever wear Kentucky Blue again and the 72-year-old head coach delivered a stunning response.

“Yeah, I thought so. Once I left Louisville, I said I’d sleep in Kentucky blue,” Pitino said with a laugh.

Pitino proudly wore a Kentucky pullover on the court and blew kisses to Big Blue Nation as they rained down cheers on him. Pitino was the final person to step onto the hardwood and he carried the 1996 national championship trophy with him.

It was an emotional moment for Pitino, who returned to see his former player, Mark Pope, usher in a new era of Kentucky basketball. However, Pitino couldn’t deny his return was also for himself.

“I’m so happy to be back,” Pitino said. “Before I pack it in coaching, I want to go back to Camelot one more time. There’s no way I could return better. This is one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time because I visited all my players. I visited the fans that made me happy for every single day for eight years.”

Those eight years were filled with wonderful memories. Pitino was the head coach at Kentucky from 1989-97. When he took over the program, it was on probation for a cheating scandal that unfolded under head coach Eddie Sutton.

However, Pitino never allowed the scandal to slow down his vision for Kentucky basketball. By 1993, Pitino led the Wildcats to an appearance in the Final Four and he didn’t slow down there.

In 1996, Kentucky won its first national title since 1978 and nearly repeated in 1997, ultimately falling to Arizona in the national championship. Pitino then left Kentucky and returned to the NBA.

Following a four-year stint with the Boston Celtics, Pitino returned to college basketball, becoming the head coach of Kentucky’s arch-rival, Louisville.

In less than five years, Pitino went from being perhaps the most-loved man in the Bluegrass State to arguably the most hated. Nonetheless, wounds heal with time and on Friday night, Rick Pitino finally squashed any remaining beef with Big Blue Nation.

“There have been a lot of great coaches here, a lot of great ones, but we get to root for someone — that man, Kentucky, is what he’s all about,” Pitino said. “[He’s] the most humble, selfless young man I’ve ever coached in my lifetime. One of the great, great examples of what Kentucky basketball is all about.

“Mark Pope is going to lead you to greatness in every sense of the word.”