NCAA Basketball

Jim Boeheim Thinks Rick Pitino Is “Full Of Sh–”

Jim Boeheim’s not going quietly. This coming college basketball season will be Syracuse’s last in the Big East before it departs, along with Pitt, for the ACC. And he’s making the time he has left in the league count… by publicly torching his fellow Big East coaches. Boeheim’s target, specifically: Louisville’s Rick Pitino.

Pitino talked about the coming exodus of Syracuse and Pitt, but also the coming influx of schools to the conference – schools like Temple and Memphis, both of which have strong basketball programs. Pitino contended that the addition of such schools could offset the loss of two of the league’s marquee members, because of course he’s going to say that for program PR purposes. Then, Boeheim was asked his opinion. It differed from Pitino’s just a tad:

Jim Boeheim on Rick Pitino saying #Temple and #Memphis can fill the void #Syracuse and #Pitt leave: “Rick’s full of shit.” #BigEast

— Matt Sugam (@MattSugam) October 17, 2012

Always a charmer, that Jim. And he wasn’t done there:

Boeheim: “If Rick [Pitino] and #Louisville could have left they would have left. Everybody knows it…They would have left in a heartbeat.”

— Matt Sugam (@MattSugam) October 17, 2012

Jim Boeheim: “If he [Rick Pitino] was in the Big 12 right now like he wanted to be, he’d being saying the Big 12 is the best.” #BigEast

— Matt Sugam (@MattSugam) October 17, 2012

For one thing: Boeheim’s right. Louisville would’ve gladly bolted the Big East, but West Virginia got the Big 12 invite instead of them. Now, Pitino has to act like Louisville’s perfectly content where it is, because saying, “Yeah, we don’t like the outlook for our program as it stands today” is not a great way to get potential recruits and fans, who might well read everything you’re saying, excited. But by painting that rosy picture, Pitino does indeed sound, well, full of shit.

But let’s not pretend he’s the only one. Pitino’s just doing what college coaches do – he’s selling his program. To succeed as a college coach, you pretty much have to be an expert salesman. You’re always trying to impress people – recruits, potential donors, fans to fill the seats, poll voters. And to successfully do that all the time, it helps – nay, it’s downright required – to have some shit coursing through your veins.

Mostly, though, this is hilarious. It’s a 67-year-old man/public cursing fan talking trash about a 60-year-old man, because he is untouchable. Jim Boeheim does not give one single fuck in the world, because he doesn’t have to. He’s won tons of games. The Bernie Fine thing blew over. He’s not going anywhere. He’s a local legend, he can say other guys are full of shit (and when it’s a guy who’s pulled some stuff as sleazy as what Pitino’s done, it’s even better), and the only repercussions he has to worry about involve the other guy talking some trash back at him, because he doesn’t give a fuck either:

Rick Pitino on Jim Boeheim to @snytv (with a smile): “I think he’s full of s**t, and so we’re both full of it.”

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 17, 2012

This is so much better than Coughlin-Schiano.

Getty photo, by Gregory Shamus

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