John Calipari, Wenyen Gabriel talk Kentucky’s loss to UCLA. Fletcher Page
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Something is missing from the Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry this year.
Rick Pitino.
For just the fifth time in the last 31 meetings between the two rivals, Pitino will not coach either team. Pitino last missed out on the rivalry during his four-season stint with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001. When Pitino returned to the Bluegrass State as Louisville’s head coach in 2001 after leading Kentucky from probation to a national championship, he immediately became one of the most polarizing figures in the rivalry’s history.