Richard Pitino earned his first win against his Hall of Fame father on Sunday as New Mexico beat Ion 82-74. Rick Pitino hates to lose, but he couldn’t be more proud of his son.
“We had our chances,” Rick said after the game. “We didn’t take advantage of those opportunities because New Mexico is a great basketball team. Very happy for Richard. Very proud of him.”
The Lobos are now 11-0, and while they weren’t ranked in the AP Top 25 this year, they’re starting to get some votes.
“Richard knows how to deal with it, but one piece of advice for this team is, don’t accept it. Say goodbye,” Rick said. “Get better, accept what you’ve done wrong and make amends. Because as fast as you climb that mountain, it throws you off it.”
New Mexico used to be at the top of the Mountain West Conference, but the program has seen some slumps recently. Richard is in his second year at the helm and is looking for ways to get fans excited about the Lobos again. Sunday’s game was part of a home-and-home series set up because the Gaels were looking for a team near the West Coast to play en route to the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.
Richard asked his father to play the game because he saw it as a good opportunity to bring a high-profile opponent to The Pit and get a good crowd for the Lobos. His plan succeeded.
The attendance was 14,534, the most for the Lobos since the 2015-16 season. The environment was loud and some fans even received noise alerts from their smartwatches. Rick said New Mexico is tough to beat because of crowds like that. The Lobos were able to feed off the energy and saw five players score in double figures. Senior guard Jaelen House led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Rick was so impressed with him that he joked that under different circumstances he would have offered him a scholarship.
Richard was grateful for the crowd, but he is especially grateful to his father.
“I really appreciate the father and Iona for coming to play that game. He didn’t have to do that. He was trying to help his son,” he said. “It’s a long, long way for everyone when we can get this thing refilled. Very grateful.”
The Pitins have their similarities and differences, just like any other father and son. Rick wore a suit, while Richard, who has a more laid-back personality, chose a red sweater. However, they both have a competitive spirit in common. Before the match, Rick said that he had taught his son to be a strong competitor, so he expected that Richard would want to beat him by 30.
The result wasn’t as dramatic, but Richard is now 1-2 in the all-time series against his father. However, this statistic does not matter to either of them.
“It’s not about beating my dad. I’m lucky to have my dad play here because we’ve benefited,” Richard said. “It’s a nationally televised game that he didn’t have to play … I’m glad we won, but I don’t look at it when I beat him. I look at it like New Mexico beating Ion .”
Father and son had dinner plans after the game and were ready to continue cheering on their teams for the remainder of the season.
Basketball is a big part of the Pitino family, and the next generation is already embracing it. During the telecast, Richard’s 8-year-old son, Jack, was seen loudly cheering for the Lobos. He predicted New Mexico would win 85-79 — though he initially said 100-0.
Richard said it gives him joy to see his kids embrace basketball. Growing up with Rick Pitino as a father, he saw the ups and downs of working in the industry. He wants Jack to keep having fun with it, but joked that the young fan might have to learn some hard lessons eventually.
“He must know we’re going to lose. Hopefully not soon,” Richard said. “He also needs to know that student section crap can’t be transferred to third-grade basketball. We had some problems there, too.”
