Minnesota coach Richard Pitino wasted no time in his first press conference addressing the news of his father's pending dismissal from Louisville.
Rick Pitino, who won a national title with the Cardinals in nearly 20 years with the program, was placed on administrative leave Tuesday after an FBI probe linked his assistant to allegedly paying a recruit $100,000 to sign.
"I know you guys are interested in talking about my dad's situation," Pitino said. "The biggest thing with that is it's family. He's my dad. I love him, I care for him, I want what's best for him. I'm here for him. I just want him to be happy.
"It's been a tough week for our family."
Pitino said he didn't know about any of the allegations against Louisville, where he coached for three seasons from 2007-2009 and 2011-12. The allegations on paying a recruit focus on the past year.
The probe is taking on corruption both in college basketball and in the dealings between leaders in the sport and shoe companies. The aftershocks of this week's news will be felt for some time.
"I think it's bad and good," Richard Pitino said Friday. "I think probably short-term it's not very good. But maybe in the long term it might be better. It's not good for anybody right now. I only know what I read, so you never know what the truth is with all that stuff. It's never good when you hear any of those things about your game. Hopefully, it's something that in the long term we might benefit from it."
