What a week for Rick Pitino! He's elected to the Hall of Fame. His horse is headed to the Kentucky Derby. His son gets a prominent head coaching job. Then he caps it off with what he wanted most. Another national championship. For that, he can thank 13 of the grittiest guys he's ever coached. Luke Hancock produced another huge game off the bench, scoring 22 points, and Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools when Louisville rallied from another 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night. "This team is one of the most together, toughest and hard-nosed teams," the coach said. "Being down never bothers us. They just come back." More like relentless to the very end. They're not stopping now, either. The players intend to hold Pitino to a promise he made: If they won a national title, he'd get a tattoo. Better leave a lot of space, coach, if you want to make this a tribute to the team. "I have a couple of ideas," said Hancock, who became the first sub in tournament history to be designated as most outstanding player. "He doesn't know what he's getting into." "Our biggest motivation," Peyton Siva added, "was to get coach a tattoo." That's about the only thing that didn't exactly turn out in Pitino's favor. Earlier Monday, he was introduced as a member of the latest Hall of Fame class. On Saturday, his horse won the Santa Anita Derby to set up a run for the roses. And last week his son got the coaching job at Minnesota. The Cardinals (35-5) lived up to their billing as the top overall seed in the tournament, though they sure had to work for it. Read more http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=330980097
Rick Pitino fulfills his promise and shows off his new tattoo After his team fell to a pedestrian 7-4 in the Big East with a five-overtime loss to Notre Dame in mid-February, Louisville coach Rick Pitino boosted the Cardinals' spirits by promising to get a tattoo if they won the national championship. A closer look at Rick Pitino's tattoo (via Kenny Klein)They held up their end earlier this month, so now Pitino has as well. Louisville sports information director Kenny Klein tweeted the above photos early Friday morning of a shirtless Pitino showing off his fresh ink. The tattoo beneath his left shoulder features a Louisville script "L" logo adorned with the words "2013 NCAA Champions 35-5" http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...fills-promise-shows-off-tattoo-145149625.html
