Pitino begins his spiel, pitching what would make Syracuse a better fit than NC State, another school in the running for Shrigley's talents. He wanted to emphasize that the Wolfpack and coach Norm Sloan had more players at Shrigley's position, so he'd be better served at Syracuse, where there wasn't such a numbers crunch.

"So I'm just getting started on the part about NC State and his mother says, 'Yes, I told Norman that,'" Pitino said. "And Jim and I just look at one another. Finally Jim says, 'Do you know Coach Sloan?' She said, 'Yes. He's my brother.' I didn't say a word the rest of the night."