Veteran American basketball coach Rick Pitino has rubbished a report of a job offer from the New Zealand Breakers, despite the club confirming they have spoken to his representatives.
New York Times reporter Marc Stein tweeted the Breakers' American ownership group has been "pitching" the idea to Pitino's agent this week.
But Pitino was quick to shut down those reports.
"It's total BS - someone trying to poke fun at me," the former Louisville coach told USA Today.
However, Breakers general manager Dillon Boucher did confirm to Newshub in a statement that they had contacted Pitino's representatives.
"I can confirm that we have spoken with coach Pitino's representatives as part of the search for a new coach," the statement said. "But we will not be commenting further on an active coaching search."
The 65-year-old has heaps of coaching experience, most notably coaching in the NCAA with Kentucky and most recently Louisville.
He was fired from Louisville last year after the school had to vacate their 2013 NCAA championship over an alleged 'pay for play' scheme involving recruits at the college. The allegations state that an Adidas executive conspired to pay money to families of top-ranked high school players so they would play at Louisville and represent Adidas when they turned pro.
Breakers import Edgar Sosa played under Pitino at Louisville between 2006-2010.
If Pitino accepts the job, he will replace Paul Henare who shockingly stood down from the role earlier this month.
Newshub.
