Richard Pitino’s 2025 NCAA Tournament run with the New Mexico Lobos will reportedly be his last.
After serving as New Mexico’s head coach for the last four seasons, Pitino is expected to take on the same role at Xavier, per ESPN reporter Jeff Borzello. The move comes after Pitino led New Mexico to NCAA Tournament bids in back-to-back seasons.
NEWS: Xavier is expected to hire New Mexico's Richard Pitino as its next head coach, sources confirmed to me and @PeteThamel. Led the Lobos to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and a regular-season Mountain West title this season.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 26, 2025
Pitino had a rocky start to his stint at New Mexico. The Lobos finished with a 13-19 record in 2021-22, ranking 9th in the Mountain West Conference. But the team’s record improved in each of the next three seasons.
The Lobos’ record rose to 22-12 during the 2022-23 campaign. The following year, Mexico finished 26-10 and earned an automatic bid to March Madness by winning the Mountain West Tournament. New Mexico’s NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024 was their first after a decade-long drought.
Last season, New Mexico’s 27-8 record earned them an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament again. The 10th-seeded Lobos advanced to the second round after upsetting 7th-seeded Marquette in a convincing 75-66 contest, earning Pitino a cool piece of March Madness history in the process.
Pitino takes over for Sean Miller, who coached Xavier for three seasons before taking a high-profile job at an SEC school.
