Rick Pitino is returning to a high-profile position after becoming the head coach at St. John's, but with it comes the need to address his past.
The 70-year-old was asked about his departure from Louisville Tuesday on SportsCenter (4:30 in video):
"I've never cheated the game, I've never cheated in the game," Pitino said. "You can't vacate a national championship. Look, you can take a banner down. ... You can't change history. We won the national championship. We didn't cheat to win the game."
Pitino led Louisville to the national championship in 2013, the coach's second career title after winning in 1996 with Kentucky, but the win was later vacated by the NCAA after a 2018 investigation.