Rick Pitino, who has called himself a "college coach living on borrowed time," will leave the New York Knicks of the NBA to take charge of the troubled University of Kentucky basketball program, sources say.
Pitino, 36, who has coached the Knicks for two seasons, will announce his decision Thursday at a news conference in Lexington, the Courier-Journal of Louisville and WCBS-TV in New York reported."He said he would meet with the Knicks tomorrow and if everything goes well, he expects to make the announcement on Thursday," WCBS sports reporter Rock Rote quoted Pitino as saying late Monday night.
The Courier-Journal, in Tuesday's editions, quoted two unidentified sources as saying Pitino was leaving the Knicks.
The newspaper said the Kentucky Athletics Board would have to approve the hiring before it could be announced. A Kentucky spokesman said Monday that no meeting of the board had been scheduled.
Pitino, after visiting the university last week, was offered the position held for four seasons by Eddie Sutton. The latter resigned in March in the midst of an NCAA investigation that resulted in three years' probation for the Kentucky program.
Kentucky finished 13-19 last season, its first losing record in 62 years. The NCAA penalties announced earlier this month include a ban on postseason tournament play for two years and a ban on live television for next season.
The AP could not reach Pitino for comment. Rote, who hosts Pitino's weekly show on WCBS, and Knicks spokesman John Cirillo declined to give out the coach's unlisted home telephone number.
Cirillo, who said he had "no announcement to make," added that he didn't know if Pitino had made a decision. "I know he was thinking about it over the weekend, but we have no indication either way."
Kentucky Athletic Director C.M. Newton and university President David Roselle would not comment.
Pitino, who led Providence Unbiversity into the NCAA Final Four in his last season before joining the Knicks for the 1987-88 season, has expressed the desire to get back to the college level.
"I'm a college coach living on borrowed time," he said last week.