Good for Stephen Van Treese for putting him on the spot.
So Van Treese and Justin Martin, a Lawrence North junior who has committed to Louisville, called Pitino.
“We were talking to him, and I just asked him straight up, ‘Are you trying to go back to the NBA?’” Van Treese said. “He said, ‘No, that’s total B.S. They’re blowing it all up.' He said that he is not leaving.”
“On ESPN it said he’s interested, but he said he hasn’t even talked to (the Kings).”
Van Treese and Martin are two of four Lawrence North players committed to Louisville, along with 6-10 center Michael Chandler and 6-6 forward Ryan Taylor, both in the 2011 class.
“I was nervous,” Van Treese said. “I was like, ‘Man, am I going to have to go to another college?’ I was getting teased all day, people saying Pitino is going to leave. I was like, ‘No, he’s not. I talked to him.’”
So can we finally put all of this to bed? We can't? All right, I'm still taking any and all Pitino-related emails.