Rick Pitino coached in his very first game for Panathinaikos BC this afternoon, and he couldn’t help but bring up the Kentucky Wildcats in his post-game press conference.
And surprisingly, the former Kentucky head coach had extremely high praise for the program.
“It reminded me of Kentucky,” Pitino said after his team’s 96-84 victory over CSKA Moscow. “Just like that, and that’s the highest compliment I give any crowd. Because I’ve always felt that in Kentucky basketball is a religion, and the fans tonight motivated us to play that type of defense.”
It’s been quite an eventful past couple of years for Pitino, as embarrassing scandal after scandal ultimately ended his coaching career at Louisville.