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Pitino not impressed after workouts

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 24, 2001

Louisville coach Rick Pitino likes the work ethic of his new players. But after his second day on the job, he's not satisfied with their talent.

"There's a reason when you have one of the best coaches in the game and you only win 12 games. It's because of a lack of talent," Pitino said Friday. "That's something we have to work on. I've seen some interesting shots and some of the more interesting forms I've seen in a long time."

He softened his criticism by saying the players have been receptive to instruction. "There's a strong eagerness to learn and that's a good sign," he said.

The rebuilding job doesn't stop with the players. Pitino also criticized Louisville's practice facilities, down to the poor lighting in the weight room.

"This is where we go to work every single day. This is where the recruits will come, this is where the players will live," Pitino said. "It hasn't been upgraded in 10 years, and it needs to be."

TENNESSEE: Ousted coach Jerry Green said the school wanted him to leave, but he doesn't harbor any bad feelings about the university. Green told the Tennessean he didn't realize he wasn't welcome anymore until athletics director Doug Dickey approached him about a buyout March 17, the day after Tennessee lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Charlotte. Dickey announced Tuesday that Green accepted a $1.1-million buyout to resign. "The reality is that they came to me," Green said. "I didn't go to them. I think that pretty well sums it up. ... Staying just wasn't something I thought about because I pretty much got the feeling that they didn't want me to come back, that they could get somebody better." Dickey gave Green the option of staying, "but it wasn't one of those feelings you feel good about when you're talking to your athletic director."

DUQUESNE: Danny Nee, the former Nebraska coach who had a 7-22 record in his first season at Robert Morris College, interviewed to replace Darelle Porter. Nee was 254-189 and coached five NCAA Tournament teams at Nebraska from 1986-2000 before he was fired.

IOWA: Reggie Evans said he will return for his senior year. The 6-foot-8 forward led the nation with 11.9 rebounds a game.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The search for a new coach remains clouded, with conflicting newspaper reports about the school's contact with Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson. South Carolina athletic director Mike McGee has permission to contact Sampson to discuss the job that came open when Eddie Fogler resigned, the Charleston Post and Courier reported. Sampson told the Tulsa (Okla.) World, however, that "I don't have any interest in South Carolina" and that he hasn't been contacted. Fogler quit March 12.

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