Don’t buy into Pitino-UVA rumors; Mallory names 5 finalists

By Jerry Ratcliffe

I’ve been told by someone in the know not to buy the reports that New Mexico’s Richard Pitino, son of St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, is a candidate for the Virginia job.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote that the 42-year-old Pitino, who has the Lobos at 24-6 this season, his fourth year at New Mexico, is “involved in the Virginia vacancy.” So, what does “involved” mean in this case? Hearing nothing from sources who have connections to UVA’s national search. Perhaps the Georgia search firm reached out to Pitino’s agent or vice versa, but I don’t think it went beyond that contact.

I keep hearing that Marquette’s Shaka Smart is the No. 1 target of Virginia and that the only others under consideration are VCU’s Ryan Odom and current interim coach Ron Sanchez.

Smart, 47, worked wonders at VCU before flaming out at Texas, but has Marquette near the top of the Big East standings. There has been contact between Virginia and Smart. Odom, whose father, Dave, was a longtime assistant at UVA and head coach at Wake Forest, would likely be a popular pick among Wahoo fans. Someone is going to pluck him out of the Atlantic 10, especially with 11 Division I jobs already open and 40 to 50 more predicted to open up by the end of the season.

Miami replaced retired Jim Larrañaga on Thursday by hiring Duke assistant Jai Lucas, while Utah hired Alex Jensen, an assistant with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Meanwhile, former Virginia commit Chance Mallory of Charlottesville’s St. Anne’s-Belfield announced Thursday that he has narrowed his list to five schools: Tennessee, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Virginia.

Mallory, a 4-star point guard, said he will announce his decision on March 22.

It is interesting that Mallory kept UVA on his list, which could mean he’s waiting to see who ends up as the Cavaliers’ head coach. When Mallory committed to Virginia during the summer, he said the main reason was to play for Tony Bennett, who resigned just prior to the season opening. Bennett’s announcement caused Mallory to back out of his commitment.

Meanwhile, should Virginia choose to hire a general manager for its basketball program, interest is heating up. Last week, Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson expressed interest in that role, should it be created.

This week, UVA’s all-time 3-point shooter, Curtis Staples, announced that he would throw his hat in the ring if his alma mater creates that position.

Staples, who graduated from Virginia in 1998, has been attending Northwestern California School of Law in Sacramento, Calif., to build his resume. He remains head coach and director of advancement at Lakeway Christian Academy, where he has 10 Coach of the Year honors, has developed 120 Division I, II & III players, including 38 Division I players, a McDonald’s All American, 10 State Players of the Year and three state championships.