Rick Pitino Makes Bet With Son About Wrestlemania Match, Home Game at Stake

Recently hired Iona head coach Rick Pitino and his son, Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino, have placed a friendly wager on Sunday's Wrestlemania 36 match pitting Brock Lesnar against Drew McIntyre.

While it appears the exact details of the bet are still being ironed out, the winner of the bet will seemingly host the other's team in a game next season.

Rick was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. He most recently coached EuroLeague club Panathinaikos B.C before being hired by Iona in mid-March. He brings a wave of drama with him to the Gales.

Among other scandals, he was the head coach of the first and only vacated men’s basketball national championship dating to Louisville's last NCAA scandal. The punishment was handed down in 2017, after assistant coach Andre McGee was found to have paid a collection of escorts and strippers to entertain Louisville players and recruits in the basketball dorm on campus.

Pitino was also given a five-game personal suspension in June 2017, which he did not serve, as he fired before the following season started for his potential involvement in a more recent scandal regarding the recruitment of Brian Bowen Jr.

Prior to his time at Louisville, he was also the head coach at Kentucky,  Providence in college as well as the Celtics in the NBA.

The 37-year-old Richard has been the head coach at Minnesota since 2013. 

For the first time in WWE history, WrestleMania is a two-night affair in front of an empty arena. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the event was pre-taped last week, mostly at the WWE Performance Center, the company’s Orlando training facility. Other matches were filmed on location.

Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski hosted Saturday night. Lesnar and McIntyre are among the star-studded matches that will air on Sunday.