Pitino Preaches 'Blinders' at Big East Media Day

NEW YORK -- Despite recent revelations that Rick Pitino had an extramarital affair and then an alleged $10 million extortion attempt against him, the Louisville coach said those concerns have not been an issue with recruits.

"What you failed to realize in recruiting, it hasn't come up one time in one phone call," Pitino said. "Because you're [media] interested in it, because it's your job ... [but] the players and the recruits are not interested.

"All they're interested in are their futures, making their lives better for their families some day, becoming the best player they possibly can be and winning games. And that's really what they're tuned into."

Pitino was at Madison Square Garden Wednesday as part of the Big East's men's basketball media days. It was the first time Pitino had been in the World's Most Famous Arena since March 14, when he cut down the nets after his Cardinals won the Big East Tournament title.

The atmosphere was certainly different Wednesday. Surrounded by dozens of reporters, the 57-year old Pitino was decked out in a dark pin-striped suit with a handkerchief tucked into the left breast pocket. He sat at a table taking questions about the past incidents, but did not address any specifics of the events that thrust him into the headlines, saying he wanted to "focus on basketball."

In August, Pitino, who is married, admitted to what he called an "indiscretion" with Karen Sypher at a Louisville restaurant in 2003. Sypher later told Pitino she was pregnant and he gave her $3,000 so Sypher could pay for medical insurance and not an abortion as Sypher claimed.

Sypher also has been accused of trying to extort up to $10 million dollars from Pitino, but countered that he sexually assaulted her. Sypher has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of extortion and lying to the FBI.

When asked about the difficulties of dealing with the recent events the past few months, Pitino said: "I really just want to focus on basketball."

"The best thing for me is to put it behind me," he said. "You all have had difficult times in your life that you had to get through. I've gotten through it. I'm no different than any of you. We'll get through it, no problems.

"I don't want to tell you about my difficulties because -- you guys look in the mirror and ladies look in the mirror, you have difficult times in your life -- so I'm no different than you."

Pitino said he wasn't nervous about facing the media on Wednesday.

"You have a job to do," Pitino said. "You all misread my press conference, that's the only mistake you made. I wasn't chastising you all in the slightest way. I had had enough. My family had enough.

"I needed to step up for my family and for myself, get something off my chest and get you to understand certain facets."
Pitino promised there would not be any more distractions concerning these events.

"There will be no more distractions," he said. "I owe it to my team. There may be for a few hours one day a personal distraction on my part [may occur], but there won't be any team distractions."

Louisville senior guard Edgar Sosa said when news of Pitino's affair and then the extortion attempt went public, he was bombarded with questions from friends and fans.

"Questions that you basically couldn't answer," Sosa said. "A lot [of the time] being stopped in the mall and also people calling you, trying to get information out of you. It was kind of difficult telling people I don't know what's going on, you need to ask someone else."

Sosa said Pitino has never held a team meeting to address the team about the incidents, but made it clear he would remain their coach.

"He made it known to all of us he's gonna be here, he's going to be our coach, our mentor and lead us, like he does every year," Sosa said.

Pitino also had to deal with another off-the-court distraction when Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith were arrested Oct. 11 and then pleaded guilty to resisting arrest outside a party at a southern Indiana restaurant.

Pitino said the players would not be suspended any games and added his punishment is much worse than missing games.

"If you knew exactly what happened, I had 50 worse things happen [while coaching] at Providence, 100 things worse happen [while coaching] at Kentucky. I know what happened was an unfortunate situation. The young men learned from it. Thankfully no one got hurt. The young men knew where they made their mistake.

"They were disciplined, like I discipline all my players. I can assure some people, the first question is: are they going be suspended? These players - compared to what I put them through - much rather would be suspended. Much rather [than] the hell that they pay."

Pitino would not disclose details of the punishment.

"There will be no more distractions. I owe it to my team. There may be for a few hours one day a personal distraction on my part [may occur], but there won't be any team distractions."
- Rick Pitino "It's between me and them," Pitino said. "It's always been that way."

Unfortunately for Pitino, the details of his relationship with Sypher went very public. Pitino used a horse racing analogy in dealing with the distractions.

Pitino, who owns thoroughbreds, said he had previously spoken with Hall of Fame jockey Nick Zito a long time ago about why horses wore blinders and asked how it makes them run faster.

He was told "it helps them to just concentrate on the lane they're running in, the path they're following because horses always get distracted and want to look around," Pitino said. "They look around during the race? I couldn't fathom that.

"In this sport [basketball], many times when people have great success, they get distracted. Many times when they face adversity, they get distracted. It affects you both ways. That's what I was alluding to [in an earlier interview] with putting blinders on -- you have to follow your path and stay focused on where you're trying to get with your team."

The Cardinals, who have reached the Elite Eight the past two seasons, were picked to finish fourth in the Big East by the league's coaches.

"All of us have to focus on what's going to make them what they were last year and the year before," said Pitino, who has made five Final Four appearances, including winning the 1996 national title at Kentucky. "We have a lot to replace.

"I can tell you this is the best attitude I've coached at Louisville. I don't know if it's best team yet. That makes it fun for all of us."

Sosa said his coach hasn't changed in the past few months.

"New York people are tough," Sosa said. "Coach P's going to be fine. He's normal as ever. It has not [affected] what we're tying to accomplish.

"Coach P is still the same person and he will lead us like he does every year."