Pitino’s Greece tenure not over yet
Reports in the Greek press indicate that a recent conversation with EOK president Georgios Vassilakopoulos has assured Rick Pitino that he remains head coach of the Ethniki.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage with Go Greek TV!
As the majority of the sports world remains on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the main stories to emerge out of Greece at the start of the shutdown was Rick Pitino’s departure from Panathinaikos.
Shortly after being announced as the new head coach of Iona College for the upcoming season, Panathinaikos opted to mutually part ways with their American bench-boss just a handful of months after appointing Pitino for his second stint in the Trifylli hot seat.
Pitino’s departure from Panathinaikos came in spite of the statements he made in an interview with ESPN. Pitino stated he was planning to see-out his obligations in Greece, though at the time of those remarks the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to go ahead as planned.
Although it was assumed by many that Pitino’s tenure with the Greek national team was over once Pitino parted ways with Panathinaikos, it appears that is not the case after all.
According to a report from SDNA.gr, Pitino and Vassilakopoulos recently spoke over the phone to discuss the American coach’s future with the Ethniki. The report indicates that the conversation had a positive dialogue about Pitino continuing as head coach of the Ethniki in order to lead the Ethniki to the Olympics.
The coronavirus pandemic eventually forced the IOC to push back the Olympics to 2021 with FIBA also postponing the qualifying tournaments that were scheduled to tip-off in June.
