Top 30 Rick Pitino Quotes

After September 11, I don’t think people really believe things like this are all that important.

Basketball is my passion, and I love it, and I love to see my players succeed. I’m here for them and my children. That’s my passion.

Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer.

Francisco Garcia could have been a high draft choice last year, probably in the 20s. He’s the best wing player I’ve ever coached. But he’s done it the right way. He knew he had to work on his body to become a good pro. When he goes into the pros, he’ll be physically ready.

Passion and hunger are the two ingredients that I look for in first making the judgment on – whether an athlete, an assistant coach, or a horse trainer or anybody I do business with.

I loved going to the Knicks because we won the Atlantic Division championship. We went from winning 21 games or 19 games to winning 52 games in a short period of time. I loved coaching Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and all those guys.

Avoid cynical and negative people like the plague. They are killers of potential.

I think I do regret leaving Kentucky because I took over a team with 15 wins banking everything on the Tim Duncan lottery, and once we didn’t get Tim Duncan, I realized that leaving Kentucky was not a good move.

I plan to coach at University of Louisville for as long as I can maintain the passion I have for the game of basketball. I don’t want to coach anywhere else. I don’t believe in anything else as much as I believe in this university and this state. I want to coach as long as they will have me.

I’d learned how much happiness money can bring you. Very little.

I ignore the jealous, I ignore the malicious, I ignore the ignorant, and I ignore the paranoid. If the shoe fits anyone, wear it.

I don’t get into these petty things, Kentucky-Louisville. To me, it’s nonsense… There will be people at Kentucky that will have a nervous breakdown if they lose to us… They’ve got to put the fences up on bridges. There will be people consumed by Louisville.

Failure is good. It’s fertilizer. Everything I’ve learned about coaching, I’ve learned from making mistakes.

Humility is the true key to success. Successful people lose their way at times. They often embrace and overindulge from the fruits of success. Humility halts this arrogance and self-indulging trap. Humble people share the credit and wealth, remaining focused and hungry to continue the journey of success.

Tackle the difficult things first in the morning; make changes in the way you network. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. This stops you from cynicism and negativity. End your day with that same attitude you started. Renew your contract with a day well completed.

Basketball has consumed me since the age of 7 or 8. I don’t know what I would do without it.

The one thing I’ve always said: Let your family and close friends be the judge of who you are as a person. Don’t worry about being judged by others who don’t know you, because your family and close friends know what you’re all about, good and bad.

If I didn’t have a recruiting engagement, I was going to be here. I did everything possible to change the recruiting thing. I’m a very small part of this night, but I did want to be a part of it.

Technology is a compulsive and addictive way to live. Verbal communication cannot be lost because of a lack of skill. The ability to listen and learn is key to mastering the art of communication. If you don’t use your verbal skills and networking, it will disappear rapidly. Use technology wisely.

I’d tell any coach not to move for money… Stay at your job if you’re really happy.

One thing I’ve learned to do with my age, I really don’t look ahead. For years, I’ve been preaching the precious present and having to always subscribe to it.

The other guys just caught lightning in a bottle with a great game.

I can say that hands down from being in this business 32 years; we’re going to be much better than we were last year just because there’s eight new players that now have experience and Palacios will be healthy.

I give myself 24 hours after a loss. After that, I’m totally on to the next game. But for 24 hours, I’m not a happy man.

The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today, people must understand why they’re working hard. Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different.

I try not to get too low. I fight adversity as hard as I can fight it, not to get too low. When good things happen, I don’t really embrace it. I just say it’s a lucky day.

This is not the beginning of American civilization where we need guns because it’s the Wild, Wild West… There should not be guns in our society, and we all know that; politicians know that.

I’m at the stage of my career when it’s not only about winning and developing players, it’s about having fun. That’s a void in your life right now, but it’s something you’re going to have here.

If I had one regret in life… it’s that I was not more humble at an earlier age.

It could happen to anyone when you get hired by a different president. There’s a difference in philosophies. It happens. It’s a change in CEOs. They have their own people, their own philosophies, and it’s different than what Bob stands for.