LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- What Peyton Siva remembers about the day he met Richard Pitino is there was no heat in the gymnasium at Franklin High School in Seattle.
Winter break. Turn off the heat. Save money.
Bundle up.
And that's what Richard Pitino did. He sat through a two-hour practice wearing his winter coat and gloves before he made his pitch to why Siva should turn down opportunities at Washington, Oregon, Kansas and other schools to fly more than 2,300 miles across the country to play point guard for the University of Louisville.
That's precisely what Siva did, heading the 2013 U of L national championship team as its captain and point guard.
It was an introduction Siva never forgot and it's a reason why Siva is firmly in the camp that Pitino would be a fine choice to become Kenny Payne's replacement as the Cardinals' coach.
"He's a great person, first of all," Siva said. "He's a smart dude who really knows basketball. And he would get the fan base excited again.
"I know it's about winning. Any coach you get has to win. But Richard was here. He knows what Louisville basketball is about. He knows the community. He knows basketball. Nobody would work any harder."
Pitino started trending on the social media platform X on Tuesday afternoon because he has talked to Louisville about the coaching opening that Baylor's Scott Drew and Florida Atlantic's Dusty May have reportedly turned down.
When the son of former Hall of Fame and U of L as well as Kentucky coach Rick Pitino is mentioned as a possibility to lead this sagging program, there's a different jolt of adrenaline than there is when you talk about Josh Schertz of Indiana State, Pat Kelsey of Charleston or other names that have been thrown into the discussion.
Because his dad won big here. Because his dad was fired here in 2017. Because there was prime-time success here. Because there was scandal here. Because the arena was once packed here. Because the arena is not packed here any more.
Far from it. Louisville needs somebody who can get people talking about Louisville basketball again. This would get people talking. Some people would get on board. Some people would stay away.
The discussions reportedly started Sunday, one day after May picked Michigan over Florida Atlantic and two days after Pitino's third team at the University of New Mexico was beaten by Clemson, 77-56, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was Pitino's third NCAA Tournament appearance in a dozen seasons as a head coach: one at Florida International, eight at Minnesota and three at New Mexico. His only NCAA Tournament victory came in 2019 when Minnesota defeated Chris Mack and Louisville.
After enduring four losing seasons at Minnesota, Pitino left for New Mexico in 2021. In three seasons there, he has increased the Lobos' win total from 13 to 22 to 26 this season.
New Mexico crackled its way into the NCAA field by winning four games in four days to claim the Mountain West Tournament title.
The Lobos' analytics were excellent. New Mexico is ranked No. 22 nationally in the NCAA NET formula, No. 29 in Bart Torvik and No. 27 in Ken Pomeroy's formula. The Lobos won twice against San Diego State, Colorado State and Nevada, all NCAA Tournament teams.
Siva views Pitino as a coach who learned the game from his father as well as from Billy Donovan, who had Richard Pitino on his staff at Florida. He also believes that Pitino used his experience and struggles at Minnesota to become a better coach at New Mexico.
The Lobos ranked 47th in offensive efficiency nationally this season and 24th on defense. The 26 victories were the most games New Mexico has won since 2017. But the record also shows that over those dozen seasons is 220-178, a winning percentage of 55.3%.
"Richard is a good coach," Siva said. "He knows his stuff and he can definitely relate to players."
In fact, Richard Pitino has even forgiven Siva for calling him on his honeymoon to announce his commitment to Louisville.
"I'm not sure his wife was real happy," Siva said. "But he thought it was great."
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