Following an NCAA championship and a basketball hall of fame induction, University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has grabbed another accolade this time from the ESPY Awards. The awards ceremony put on by ESPN that celebrates top individuals and teams in the sporting community.
Pitino was honored with the award for best coach/manager, beating out Indianapolis Colts interim coach Bruce Arians, UCONN women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, Duke Lacrosse coach John Danowski, and the NBA Champion Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Pitino wasn’t in attendance for the show out of Los Angeles, but in his place had Cardinal players Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, and Wayne Blackshear accept the award. Incidentally, the coach was in Milwaukee recruiting.
In other news, Pitino actually got inked recently, this is after he promised his 2013 team that if they won the national championship he’d get a tattoo commemorating the victory, well, you can’t say he’s not a man of his word as Pitino got his tattoo (which is his one and only) on his back, which features a Louisville logo and text to the championship effect.
Meanwhile, the Lady Cards who were nominated in the category of Biggest Upset for their NCAA tournament win against Baylor, were defeated by Florida Gulf Coast who surprised the nation by defeating Florida in the men’s tournament. However, Louisville women’s coach, Jeff Walz and several players from the Lady Cards were in attendance.
Images courtesy of Card Chronicle and Rick Pitino.com
