Cutting His Own NIL Check, Publicly Accepting Challenges - Rick Pitino Bleeds Kentucky Blue, Reminds Everyone How Much He Hates Calipari

You wanna know why Mark Pope won't fail at Kentucky? This guy right here. 

David E. Klutho. Getty Images.

The man bleeds Kentucky blue. He's basically locking up his spot as GM in a couple years when he retires from St. John's. He's already publicly agreeing to a home-and-home with Kentucky so he can say bye to the fans/remind them he's coming in a couple years. He's out here publicly saying he'll cut a check with his own money to help out Kentucky's NIL: 

The man coaches a Division I program and he's worried about Kentucky. That's why there's nothing like this job in the world. It's more than a coach. It's also a good reminder that Rick Pitino hates John Calipari. It goes back a long way, but there's no doubt that Pitino saw fans forgetting about what he did at Kentucky and is now reminding them. Pitino is one of the 5 best coaches ever in this game, not Calipari. Now he has one of his own in charge and can't stop talking about Kentucky. I wouldn't be surprised if Pitino just stays in Lexington after losing to us. Gotta get a head start on raising money, talking to recruits and doing GM things. 

This is what I want though. It got lost because of who Calipari is that Kentucky is bigger than him. Bring back the glory days. Bring back the dominance of the late 90s. Get Pitino to rally the group, Pope to coach and let everyone us take care of business. Not enough? We got Taylor Swift on our side. 

Pitino is gonna leave a St. John's game to come sit on the Kentucky bench. That's the only logical next step here based on what he's saying. Let that hate flow, bring everyone in Kentucky back home and win some damn games. Step 1 and 2 are accomplished now we just gotta wait until November for step 3.