A corner room on the sixth floor of Athletes Village erupted with cheers on Selection Sunday when the Gophers, along with family and friends, found out they were one of 68 teams bound for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Coach Richard Pitino's first reaction seemed to be one of surprise, though, when the team's opponent was announced: Louisville, in a 7-10 matchup Thursday in Des Moines.
He displayed a brief open-mouthed stare, followed with an awkward grin. His arms remained crossed for a few seconds while his players clapped and shouted about 10th-seeded Minnesota making the tournament for the second time in three years. He soon joined in their excitement.
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Louisville. Of all teams …
Pitino twice was an assistant at Louisville before coming to Minnesota, coaching under his Hall of Fame father, Rick. Two years ago, Richard Pitino breathed a sigh of relief during the Selection Show when the selection committee chose not to draw up a father-and-son matchup. This time, the Gophers-Cardinals matchup came true.
"It's not going to be about me," Pitino said Sunday. "I'm not going to be 'It's revenge' or anything like that. It's about our players, it's about this program. We worked really, really hard to put ourselves in position to be one of the 19 percent that gets to make the NCAA tournament in college basketball."
In 2017, it would have been father vs. son, a difficult scenario for that family. This year's matchup could be awkward for different reasons, after the nasty breakup of Rick Pitino and Louisville. Rick Pitino called it an unjust firing in October 2017, following a former assistant's link to the FBI probe and college hoops recruiting scandal. The elder Pitino is in the process of suing his former employer for breach of contract for nearly $40 million.