Richard Pitino was fired by the University of Minnesota four years ago this Saturday. He has quickly turned New Mexico into one of the best teams in the Mountain West, and he’s a hot name on the coaching market this off-season.

There was rumored to be a lot of buzz with him and Florida State before they opted to hire Luke Loucks. According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Pitino’s name is “emerging” at Virginia as they look to replace longtime head coach Tony Bennett, who shockingly retired before the season. Tipton continued, saying, “It sounds like he very well could be the leading candidate.”

Pitino is still only 42 years old and he has a 245-184 (.571) record in his 13-years as a Division I head coach. Within four years, he has gone from being fired at Minnesota, to being a candidate for one of the top jobs in the ACC, if not all of college basketball.

Virginia won the National Championship in 2019, which was the last season Minnesota participated in the NCAA Tournament. Pitino is well on his way to his second straight appearence in the NCAA Tournament with New Mexico, while the Gophers are hoping to get back to .500.

There’s a lot that can happen in a four-year span, but it’s fair to say that Pitino has gotten the better of the breakup with Minnesota. Even if he doesn’t make the jump to a bigger job, he has built New Mexico into one of the top mid-major programs in the country, and an NCAA Tournament birth seems further away than ever for the Gophers.

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