Richard Pitino, men’s basketball coach, is leaving the University of New Mexico to become the head coach at Xavier University in the Big East, as the Journal confirmed late Tuesday night.
“Xavier is one of the great brands in all of college basketball,” Pitino said in a press release from his new school. “It has always been a dream of mine to coach in the BIG EAST. The Cintas Center is going to be rocking. I can’t wait to get to work.”
Pitino would succeed Sean Miller, who just vacated the position to take up a coaching post at Texas on Sunday. Reportedly, Miller was pulling in $4.5 million per year from the Cincinnati-based Big East institution. Pitino was offered $2 million-plus to stay and coach the Lobos, in addition to a $1.2 million salary at UNM this season, as confirmed to the Journal by UNM officials and donors to the program.
Discussions about the position were held with former Xavier coach Chris Mack after Miller’s departure. However, Mack announced via social media at 7:18 PM Tuesday that he would not be returning to Xavier and was excited to share that he would remain at the University of Charleston.
Shortly after 8 PM, the Journal confirmed Pitino’s transfer to Xavier. In a statement issued late Tuesday on social media, UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo stated he would start a national search for the new head coach.
He said, “For more than a month, we have been engaged with Coach Pitino and his representatives in extensive contract discussions and made an extremely aggressive retention offer-reflective of our commitment to him, his staff, and our basketball program.”
Lovo furthered that the search for a new coach had already commenced. In addressing the time frame going forward given speculation of several job openings, Pitino mentioned on Sunday evening, “There is no decision to be made. I have not received any offers.”