- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 398,927
- Reaction score
- 43
Xavier Vice President for Institutional Strategy and Director of Athletics Greg Christopher hasn't gotten a lot of sleep recently.
That's not surprising coming off a run to the NCAA Tournament, two postseason games in three days and a coaching search that ultimately culminated in Richard Pitino being named Sean Miller's successor late Tuesday night.
Christopher and company were ready for the long nights, though.
"I'm old enough now that I know to be prepared for just about anything you can think of in this business," Christopher told The Enquirer. "Were we conducting a search before Sean (Miller) decided? No. But we were ready to move forward instantly."
Whispers around the college basketball world of other programs pursuing Miller was nothing new. That was the case in each of the previous two seasons since Miller returned to Xavier, according to Christopher.
Tempo, steals and sarcasm: What to expect from Richard Pitino-coached Xavier Musketeers
"You knew you had to be ready," he said. "Doing what I would say is some background research and fine-tuning a list that you always keep to be prepared."
Once Miller informed the school he was leaving, Xavier brass had a list "of about a dozen candidates," according to Christopher, and the ball was rolling.
"I ended up speaking with seven candidates on Monday and Tuesday," Christopher said. "Also had a couple of staff members and President (Collen) Hanycz speak with a few of those seven candidates. I stayed in touch with Dr. Hanycz over the last couple of weeks and she was heavily involved in the entire process, as well."
A flight to Albuquerque Tuesday afternoon, then conversations throughout the night eventually ended with Pitino becoming Xavier's next head coach.
"This was absolutely a team effort that obviously moved very quickly," Christopher said. "Several of our staff members were involved, talked with colleagues around the country, former players and others."
More: Here's where Xavier Musketeers roster stands as Richard Pitino era begins
There were several factors.
From a basketball perspective, there was a lot to like in how Pitino orchestrated a four-year turnaround at New Mexico, a program that won just six games the year before he took over.
Pitino's reputation as an offensive mind played out with the Lobos averaging over 80 points per game as one of the fastest teams in the country, a similar style to what Xavier has had recently during Miller's second stint. Defensively, New Mexico led the Mountain West in steals per game (8.7) with a unit that can turn defense into offense in a hurry.
"Defensive principles, he takes a lot from his dad. Heavy emphasis on pressure, being disruptive, rebounding and conditioning," Christopher said.
In today's era of college basketball with NIL and especially the transfer portal, teams can build rosters on a year-by-year basis.
One thing that stuck out in the interview process was Pitino and his coaching staff's ability to build a roster. While New Mexico dipped into the portal, it also retained key talent over back-to-back NCAA Tournament runs, including Mountain West Player of the Year Donovan Dent and fellow guard Tru Washington.
"There's no doubt that there are many ways you can be successful in college basketball," Christopher said. "I do think we would like to continue to have a program that probably blends all three pieces − transfers, traditional high school recruiting with a little bit of international in there, as well.
"When it comes to Richard, he's adaptable. He's got some principles that he's gonna go by and how the program's gonna run and how the team's gonna play, but you have to be adaptable to the talent that you have around you."
At just 29 years old, Pitino landed his first head-coaching job at Florida International. Less than a year later, he made the power-conference leap when he became the head coach at Minnesota.
In Minneapolis, Pitino showed the ability to rebuild. After going 43-28 in his first two seasons, Minnesota limped to an 8-23 mark in 2016. Pitino would lead the Golden Gophers to the NCAA Tournament twice in the next three seasons (they haven't been back since).
Pitino went just 29-31 combined over his final two seasons and was dismissed by Minnesota in March 2021.
"Richard and I talked about this a lot, he was still learning and figuring out his own head coaching identity during that time," Christopher said. "It's clear to me that Richard's really hungry, incredibly competitive. Some of what fuels that drive is how he's been humbled. That was important to me."
Dealing with the adversity of losing a job in the Big 10 led to a more polished product out of the Mountain West. Pitino, now 42, has handled failure and learned from it to become a seasoned veteran with 13 years of head-coaching experience as he plunges into a Big East gauntlet that includes some of the top coaches in the sport.
"He's been a head coach at four Division I schools for more than a decade," Christopher said. "I'm really confident Xavier's gonna see the best version of Richard Pitino."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Xavier University landed Richard Pitino as next head coach
Continue reading...
That's not surprising coming off a run to the NCAA Tournament, two postseason games in three days and a coaching search that ultimately culminated in Richard Pitino being named Sean Miller's successor late Tuesday night.
Christopher and company were ready for the long nights, though.
You must be registered for see images attach
"I'm old enough now that I know to be prepared for just about anything you can think of in this business," Christopher told The Enquirer. "Were we conducting a search before Sean (Miller) decided? No. But we were ready to move forward instantly."
Whispers around the college basketball world of other programs pursuing Miller was nothing new. That was the case in each of the previous two seasons since Miller returned to Xavier, according to Christopher.
Tempo, steals and sarcasm: What to expect from Richard Pitino-coached Xavier Musketeers
"You knew you had to be ready," he said. "Doing what I would say is some background research and fine-tuning a list that you always keep to be prepared."
Once Miller informed the school he was leaving, Xavier brass had a list "of about a dozen candidates," according to Christopher, and the ball was rolling.
"I ended up speaking with seven candidates on Monday and Tuesday," Christopher said. "Also had a couple of staff members and President (Collen) Hanycz speak with a few of those seven candidates. I stayed in touch with Dr. Hanycz over the last couple of weeks and she was heavily involved in the entire process, as well."
A flight to Albuquerque Tuesday afternoon, then conversations throughout the night eventually ended with Pitino becoming Xavier's next head coach.
"This was absolutely a team effort that obviously moved very quickly," Christopher said. "Several of our staff members were involved, talked with colleagues around the country, former players and others."
You must be registered for see images attach
More: Here's where Xavier Musketeers roster stands as Richard Pitino era begins
Why Xavier picked Richard Pitino as its next head coach
There were several factors.
From a basketball perspective, there was a lot to like in how Pitino orchestrated a four-year turnaround at New Mexico, a program that won just six games the year before he took over.
Pitino's reputation as an offensive mind played out with the Lobos averaging over 80 points per game as one of the fastest teams in the country, a similar style to what Xavier has had recently during Miller's second stint. Defensively, New Mexico led the Mountain West in steals per game (8.7) with a unit that can turn defense into offense in a hurry.
You must be registered for see images attach
"Defensive principles, he takes a lot from his dad. Heavy emphasis on pressure, being disruptive, rebounding and conditioning," Christopher said.
'You have to be adaptable.'
In today's era of college basketball with NIL and especially the transfer portal, teams can build rosters on a year-by-year basis.
One thing that stuck out in the interview process was Pitino and his coaching staff's ability to build a roster. While New Mexico dipped into the portal, it also retained key talent over back-to-back NCAA Tournament runs, including Mountain West Player of the Year Donovan Dent and fellow guard Tru Washington.
You must be registered for see images attach
"There's no doubt that there are many ways you can be successful in college basketball," Christopher said. "I do think we would like to continue to have a program that probably blends all three pieces − transfers, traditional high school recruiting with a little bit of international in there, as well.
"When it comes to Richard, he's adaptable. He's got some principles that he's gonna go by and how the program's gonna run and how the team's gonna play, but you have to be adaptable to the talent that you have around you."
Pitino's Minnesota tenure was a learning experience
At just 29 years old, Pitino landed his first head-coaching job at Florida International. Less than a year later, he made the power-conference leap when he became the head coach at Minnesota.
In Minneapolis, Pitino showed the ability to rebuild. After going 43-28 in his first two seasons, Minnesota limped to an 8-23 mark in 2016. Pitino would lead the Golden Gophers to the NCAA Tournament twice in the next three seasons (they haven't been back since).
Pitino went just 29-31 combined over his final two seasons and was dismissed by Minnesota in March 2021.
You must be registered for see images attach
"Richard and I talked about this a lot, he was still learning and figuring out his own head coaching identity during that time," Christopher said. "It's clear to me that Richard's really hungry, incredibly competitive. Some of what fuels that drive is how he's been humbled. That was important to me."
Dealing with the adversity of losing a job in the Big 10 led to a more polished product out of the Mountain West. Pitino, now 42, has handled failure and learned from it to become a seasoned veteran with 13 years of head-coaching experience as he plunges into a Big East gauntlet that includes some of the top coaches in the sport.
"He's been a head coach at four Division I schools for more than a decade," Christopher said. "I'm really confident Xavier's gonna see the best version of Richard Pitino."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Xavier University landed Richard Pitino as next head coach
Continue reading...
