NEW YORK _ Rick Pitino is finally back in the college ranks.
A day after long-time Iona College basketball coach Tim Cluess quit due to health reasons, the New Rochelle school announced Pitino would be the new head man.
"My passion in basketball started in New York and will end there at Iona College," Pitino said in a statement released by the school. "Tim Cluess has done a spectacular job creating success and a winning spirit. At Iona, I will work with the same passion, hunger and drive that I've had for over 40 years."
Pitino, 67, had been coaching in exile in Greece after his name was linked to the "pay for play" scandal that rocked college basketball in 2017.
He openly campaigned for the St. John's opening last year.
"I am delighted to welcome Rick Pitino to Gael Nation," Iona Director of Athletics Matthew Glovaski said in a statement. "Rick is a Hall of Fame coach who has won at the highest levels and he is committed to leading our student-athletes and our program to national prominence. He brings passion and energy and shares our desire to build a winning program that will make our community proud."
Cluess had been the Iona coach since 2010, and had missed this season for health reasons. His teams won the MAAC tournament every year from 2016-19.
New Rochelle, where Iona is located, has one of the biggest coronavirus clusters in the United States. New York governor Andrew Cuomo called it the "largest" earlier this week. Iona has moved all classes online because of the coronavirus.
"The priority in New Rochelle right now is helping students continue their education online in light of the coronavirus," Pitino said. "I very much look forward to the day when the community is back on campus and to get to work on further elevating this strong program."
Pitino, who coached the Knicks for two seasons in the late '80s, was fired by Louisville in October 2017 as a result of the FBI investigation into the scandal. He has continued to deny any wrongdoing.
Louisville also had to vacate its 2013 title over an earlier scandal at the school that occurred under Pitino's watch. The NCAA found that Pitino's director of basketball operations _ Andre McGee _ arranged "striptease dances and sex acts" for recruits.
Before the pay-for-play and McGee scandals, Pitino had his own sex scandal. In 2009, a woman named Karen Sypher attempted to extort millions of dollars from Pitino. He admitted in court that he had a sexual encounter with Sypher in a restaurant that lasted "less than 15 seconds."
The Hall of Fame coach wrote a book called "Pitino: My Story."
In 2011, Pitino claimed that he would be done with coaching after 2017.
He told the AP in September 2018 while promoting the book that he doubted he would ever get a chance to coach college ball again.
"I think my time has passed, I really do," Pitino told the AP. "I'm young. I'm physically very young and mentally very young. I just think there are a lot of young reporters out there that won't let it go. The moment I'm hired, 'Why didn't school X look at this'?"
That's the question that will now face Glovaski and Iona brass.
Iona president Seamus Carey for his part said the decision to hire Pitino came "after a thorough interview process."
Pitino is the first coach to take three different schools to the Final Four and he won national titles with Louisville and Kentucky (1996). He rose to prominence in the Big East with Providence. He has an overall record of 770-271 as a college coach.
