KELVIN TRENT TUCKER HAS BEEN HIRED AS THE HEAD ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OF THE MINNEAPOLIS CITY CONFERENCE

Kelvin Trent Tucker has been hired as the new head Athletic Director of the Minneapolis city conference. Tucker replaces John Washington who retired.

Tucker a shooting guard played basketball for the University of Minnesota from 1978 to 1982. After college Tucker was drafted number 6 in the 1982 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. His pro basketball career was from 1982-1993. Tucker bounced around the NBA for 11 seasons playing for three different teams, 1982-1991 New York Knicks, 1991-1992 San Antonio Spurs, 1992-1993 with the Chicago Bulls.

During his career Tucker scored 6,236 points averaging 8.2 points per game. He brought down a total of 1,520 rebounds averaging 2.0 rebounds per game and he dished out 1,532 rebounds a game averaging 2.0 assists per game.

After his basketball retirement Tucker turned to the media world as he was a broadcast analyst for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He now works for KFAN radio and has his own sports radio talk show.

Tucker also works with KSTC 45 in the Twin Cities covering the boys' and girls' Minnesota State High School League basketball tournaments. 

Kevin Ware on David Letterman April 4, 2013

Pitino contract breakdown - KMSP-TV

By Doug Lee Erlien- Fox 9:

"Details of Pitino's contract were released Friday with University friendly details should Pitino move on early. 

The contract runs from April 8, 2013 through April 30, 2019.

Pitino's annual salary is $1.2 million ($500,000 base, $700,000 supplemental compensation).

His base salary will increase by at least five percent every year. His supplemental compensation will remain consistent.

Bonuses:

He will be eligible for the following bonuses:

National championship- $100,000

Final Four appearance- $50,000

Sweet Sixteen appearance- $50,000

Big Ten regular season championship- $50,000

Big Ten Tournament championship $25,000

Winning conference record- $50,000

He will also pick up bonuses based on his teams' GPA and APR (academic progress rate) as well as coach of the year honors.

Pitino will receive a $400,000 bonus if he is still coach on April 30, 2016 and will receive another $400,000 if he still holds the spot on April 30, 2019. 

He will receive a car as well as use of a private jet (for approved university business) and he cannot use it for more than $50,000 worth of flights in a year."

Pitino contract breakdown - KMSP-TV

Coach sounds off on Rice firing

By FOX 9 KMSP

Coach sounds off on Rice firing: Coaching is all about getting players to perform, but Ken Pauly warns that coaches can sometimes cross the line.

 

Rutgers head basketball coach Mike Rice was fired Wednesday morning after video was released the day before that showed him throwing basketballs at players, pushing them and using offensive language.

The video was aired on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" and it shows a nasty side of Rice. It even prompted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and members of the state's assembly to call for his termination.

Rice, in an impromptu news conference outside his home, apologized "for the pain and hardship" his actions caused.

"There will never be a time when I use any of that as an excuse," he said. "I've let so many people down -- my players, my administration, Rutgers University, the fans. My family, who's sitting in their house, just huddled around because of the fact that their father was an embarrassment to them. It's troubling, but I will, at some time, maybe I'll try to explain it, -- but right now, there's no explanation for what's on those films because there is no excuse for it. I was wrong. I want to tell everybody who's believed in me that I'm deeply sorry."

A former employee gave Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti a copy of the video in late November. After
hiring independent investigators to analyze the tape, Pernetti suspended Rice for three games, fined him $50,000 and ordered him to attend anger management classes. University president Robert Barchi also saw the tape and signed off on the initial punishment.

Yet, after the public outcry that broke out in the last 24 hours, Pernetti decided to fire Rice. The questions now are: Will the athletic director be next and how widespread is the problem?

Former NBA player John Amaechi said, "You can walk on any sideline almost anywhere in America or Britain, on any given weekend and see similar behaviors."

New coach Richard Pitino has one promise for Minnesota fans - KMSP-TV

By  Mike Durkin Fox 9:

"The University of Minnesota introduced Richard Pitino as the new head coach of the Gophers basketball program Friday morning. 

The hiring of Pitino was confirmed Wednesday, but Friday's press conference was the first chance for fans and the media to hear from the 30-year-old coach.

Pitino wouldn't talk about his chances of keeping blue chip recruits Tyus Jones, Rashad Vaughn and Reid Travis in Minnesota, but he did have one promise for Gopher fans.

"Our style of play is going to be fun for you to watch," Pitino said. "It will be a lot of press -- we're going to press on every possession, we're going to try to create offense from our defense. It's going to be a great brand of basketball."

Pitino met with the current Gophers team for about 15 minutes Friday morning to share his vision. He said the players seemed excited and invested in the future of the program.

DREAM JOB

Pitino said he and his wife see Minnesota as a destination job, not a stepping stone. The coach said they talked Tuesday night about how excited they were to set their roots in Minneapolis.

"The fact that I'm sitting here is a dream come true and it's something I'm really going to relish," Pitino said. 

"When this job opened I was hoping something would present itself because this is one of the greatest jobs in basketball."

Pitino has not yet begun to assemble a coaching staff.

NORWOOD TEAGUE'S FIRST HIRE

Many Minnesota fans expected athletics director Norwood Teague to make a big splash in hiring a new basketball coach, following his success with Anthony Grant and Shaka Smart at Virginia Commonwealth.

Names like Smart, Butler's Brad Stevens and former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders were mainstays on the rumor mill. But Teague said the search unfolded as expected, and the only surprises were some of the media reports he saw.

"I made a lot of offers to a lot of candidates I didn't know I met with," Teague said. "We were very pleased with our search. It unfolded just like we planned."

Teague said, from the beginning, the search for a new coach would focus on three things:
- Relentless recruiting
- Developing student-athletes, on and off the court
- Managing and building the Gophers program to the highest level

"Coach Pitino fits all of those," Teague said. "He is the perfect fit for the University of Minnesota."

COACH PITINO'S YEAR AT FIU

Pitino has only one season of head coaching experience, but it was a winning season at Florida International. 

The Golden Panthers finished the 2012-13 season with an 18-14 record – the school's first winning season in 13 years.

New coach Richard Pitino has one promise for Minnesota fans - KMSP-TV