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ESPN Staff Writer- Basketball recruiting insider.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.
Xavier is expected to hire New Mexico's Richard Pitino as its next head coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday night.
Pitino now will coach in the same league as his father, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, who won Big East Coach of the Year earlier this month after leading St. John's to the league's regular-season and tournament championships.
Pitino is coming off arguably his best season as a head coach, leading the Lobos to the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to 2-seed Michigan State on Sunday. The Lobos went 27-8 overall and won the Mountain West regular-season title before beating 7-seed Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
He guided New Mexico to the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons, going 53-18 over that span.
In a statement Tuesday night, New Mexico athletic director Fernando Lovo confirmed that Pitino had notified the school that he accepted another job.
"For more than a month, we have been engaged with Coach Pitino and his representatives in extensive contract discussions and made an extremely aggressive retention offer -- reflective of our commitment to him, his staff, and our basketball program. Ultimately, Coach Pitino made a personal decision to pursue a new opportunity."
Lovo went on to thank Pitino for his contributions to the program and said a national search for his replacement already is underway.
Prior to taking over in Albuquerque in 2021, Pitino was the head coach at Minnesota for eight seasons. He led the Gophers to two NCAA tournament appearances, including a first-round win over Louisville in 2019.
At Xavier, Pitino replaces Sean Miller, who was announced as Texas' new coach Monday. Miller spent the past three seasons in charge of the Musketeers, returning to the program after leading them from 2005 to 2009.
Pitino emerged as one of the hottest candidates of this coaching cycle, with varying levels of interest from Villanova, West Virginia, Virginia and VCU, sources told ESPN.
Charleston's Chris Mack, who was the head coach at Xavier from 2009 to 2018 before spending four seasons at Louisville, was initially perceived as the favorite to replace Miller, but announced Tuesday night he was returning to the Cougars for his second season.