Rick Pitino had been rumored to coach the Puerto Rican National team for a couple of weeks now. ESPN.com is now reporting he will in fact be on the sidelines to try and get Puerto Rico to the Olympics in London.
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[URL=”http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/97″][COLOR=#225fb2]Louisville[/COLOR][/URL]’s Rick Pitino will coach Puerto Rico’s national team next summer in hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.
The Puerto Rico basketball federation on Monday introduced Pitino as its next coach. Pitino met with players and officials Sunday to discuss the possibility.
Puerto Rico last qualified for the Olympics in 2004, beating the United States on its way to a sixth-place finish. Its best Olympic performance was fourth, in 1964 in Tokyo. Potential players next summer include [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=dal”][COLOR=#225fb2]Dallas Mavericks[/COLOR][/URL] point guard [URL=”http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3055″][COLOR=#225fb2]J.J. Barea[/COLOR][/URL], [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=mia”][COLOR=#225fb2]Miami Heat[/COLOR][/URL] guard [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=1055″][COLOR=#225fb2]Carlos Arroyo[/COLOR][/URL] and [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=den”][COLOR=#225fb2]Denver Nuggets[/COLOR][/URL] forward [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=2986″][COLOR=#225fb2]Renaldo Balkman[/COLOR][/URL].
Puerto Rico must make a deep run in next summer’s qualifying tournament in Argentina to make it to London in 2012.
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On a serious note, I wonder if this will play a factor in Rick trying to sway Ricardo Ledo into going to Louisville. Ledo is one of the top shooting guards in the 2012 class and is eligible to play for Puerto Rico.
