Rick Pitino travels to Cleveland to watch his son Richard coach New Mexico in March Madness
CLEVELAND (AP) — Rick Pitino is hoping his son can accomplish something he couldn’t this year — get his team to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Pitino traveled from New York to Cleveland to watch his son, Richard Pitino, coach New Mexico as it faced Michigan State on Sunday night in the second round of the South Region.
St. John’s, the No. 2 seed in the West Region, lost to Arkansas 75-66 on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island.
Rick Pitino had a front-row seat opposite New Mexico’s bench, and was shown on the scoreboard during a media timeout in the first half.
It has been a hectic weekend of travel for the Pitino family and friends. Richard Pitino said Saturday that a group had been traveling between Providence and Cleveland this weekend.
“My brother Chris is in Providence and his kids were there, so he didn’t bring them down here, but there was a crew that — they’re high rollers. They’ve got a plane, so it’s not like they’re flying Southwest middle seat. They got a private plane from Providence with some cocktails,” Richard Pitino said. “They seemed like they enjoyed themselves flying down here. They’re having fun with it, and that’s the way it should be.”
This is the fourth time Richard Pitino has taken a team to the NCAA Tournament, including back-to-back trips with New Mexico. It was the second time father and son had squads in the 68-team field.
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