March 26 (UPI) — The Xavier Musketeers hired New Mexico’s Richard Pitino as their next men’s basketball coach, the school announced.
Musketeers athletic director Greg Christopher announced the move Tuesday night. Pitino, who coached the Lobos for the last four seasons, also spent time as head coach at Minnesota and Florida International University.
“Xavier is one of the great brands in all of college basketball,” said Pitino. “It has always been a dream of mine to coach in the Big East. The Cintas Center is going to be rocking.
“I can’t wait to get to work.”
Pitino, the son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, led the Lobos to a 27-8 record and second-round appearance in the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. The Lobos went 88-49 and earned two tournament appearances in four seasons under Pitino.
Pitino, 42, owns a 247-186 overall record. He went 141-123 over eight seasons at Minnesota. He led the Golden Gophers to two tournament appearances. Pitino went 18-14 in one season at Florida International University. He also worked as an assistant at Charleston, Northeastern, Duquesne, Florida and Louisville, where he worked under his father.
The Musketeers hired Pitino just a day after former coach Sean Miller was announced as the new head coach at Texas. Miller led the Musketeers to a 22-12 mark in 2024-25. He was 185-87 with six tournament appearances over eight seasons during his two stints as coach of the Musketeers.
“We are excited to welcome Richard Pitino as our new men’s basketball head coach,” Christopher said. “He has proven himself as a winner as a head coach at New Mexico and has an impressive resume of success before that as a head coach at Minnesota. His success as an assistant stood out, especially his time working for his father, Rick Pitino, at Louisville and Billy Donovan at Florida.
“We had tremendous interest in our head coaching position. It became clear that Richard was the right fit for Xavier to take us to championship success in the Big East and NCAA tournament.”
Lobos athletic director Fernando Lovo said Tuesday that he engaged in contract extension negotiations with Pitino over the last several months, but was unable to reach an agreement with the coach.
“We are grateful for coach Pitino’s leadership, dedication, and tremendous contributions to Lobo basketball,” Lovo said. “His vision and commitment elevated our program to great heights, bringing pride and excitement to our fans, alumni and university community. While we are disappointed to see him leave, we sincerely wish him and his family all the best.”
Pitino is now on track to face his father when the Musketeers battle Big East rival St. John’s during their 2025-26 campaign.
