Welcome to Iona

Hall of Fame Coach Rick Pitino was named head basketball coach of Iona College on March 14, 2020. Pitino has taken four different programs to the NCAA tournament and coached two national championship teams. During his 32 seasons as a collegiate head coach, coach Pitino has a 770-271 overall record and a 54-19 record in the NCAA Tournament. He became the first coach to take three different schools to the NCAA Final Four and first coach to win an NCAA Championship at two different schools. Pitino holds the third highest winning percentage in NCAA Tournament games (.740) among all active coaches.

Pitino, who has a stellar reputation for success on the court and a dedication to student-athlete academic success, has served as head coach of the University of Louisville (2001-2017, winning the 2013 NCAA Championship), University of Kentucky (1989-1997, winning the 1996 NCAA Championship), Providence College (1985-1987), Boston University (1978-1983) and Hawaii (last six games 1975-1976). And, while often choosing to do so anonymously, Rick has served as a charitable benefactor for a broad spectrum of worthy causes.

Pitino Quick Hits

• Pitino is the first coach in NCAA history to win an NCAA Championship at two different schools. He guided Louisville to the 2013 title and won the 1996 title at Kentucky, also finishing as runner-up in 1997.
• Pitino is the first coach in NCAA history to guide three different schools to the NCAA Final Four.
• Pitino is one of only two coaches (along with North Carolina's Roy Williams) in NCAA history to have led two different schools to at least three Final Fours each.
• Pitino is one of only four coaches (also Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith) ever to guide a school to the Final Four in four separate decades.
• Pitino has coached seven NCAA Final Four teams (Providence 1987; Kentucky 1993, 1996 and 1997; Louisville 2005, 2012, 2013).
• Pitino has a 53-18 record in NCAA Tournament play (.746), ranking him second among active coaches and 16th in all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage.
• Pitino has guided 20 teams to NCAA tournament appearances, including 12 of his 15 Louisville teams and his last six straight Kentucky teams. He has won 38 of his last 50 NCAA Tournament games spanning his last 14 appearances.
• Twenty-four of Pitino's 31 collegiate teams won 20 or more games (fifth among active coaches), with eight winning 30 or more (fifth all-time). Louisville's 2012-13 unit set a school record with 35 wins.
• At five collective collegiate coaching stops, Pitino has coached 29 players who were drafted or have played in the NBA, five of whom are active players. His 1996 NCAA Championship Kentucky team featured seven future NBA performers.
• Pitino's teams have won 12 tournament championships and he has a collective 47-16 conference tournament record (.746). In eight seasons at Kentucky, his teams posted an incredible 17-1 Southeastern Conference tournament mark. He guided Louisville to Big East tournament titles in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
• Pitino has compiled a 770-271 record, a .740 winning percentage that ranks him ninth among active coaches and 27th in all-time victories. (as of 2016-17)
• Pitino was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
• Pitino has coached teams from four different schools to the NCAA Tournament (Boston U., Providence, Kentucky and Louisville), one of 11 coaches all-time to accomplish that feat. (as of 2016-17)
• Pitino is one of nine active collegiate head coaches with head coaching experience in the NBA (others include Kentucky's John Calipari, Alabama's Avery Johnson, Oklahoma's Lon Kruger, UTEP's Tim Floyd, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Utah's Larry Krystkowiak, Nevada's Eric Musselman and CSUN's Reggie Theus). (as of 2016-17)
• When Pitino attained his first collegiate head coaching position in 1978 at the age of 25, he was the nation's youngest Division I head coach.
• Pitino officially guided his first team as a head coach in just his second year out of college. As an assistant coach in his second year at Hawai'i in the 1975-76 season, Pitino coached UH for the final six games of the season after the head coach there was relieved of his duties.
• Pitino has international coaching experience, guiding the Puerto Rico national team in three 2015 summer competitions and Panathinaikos B.C. in the EuroLeague from 2018-20.

Career Record