Pitino went back to the NBA in 1997 , but returned to college — and his adopted home state — on March 21 , 2001 to coach the University of Louisville following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum . In the 2005 season , Pitino led Louisville to their first Final Four in 19 years , and became the first men 's coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four . Immediately following their Final Four run , several players graduated or entered the 2005 NBA Draft . The inexperience caused the Cardinals to limp into the Big East Tournament seeded 12th , and miss the NCAA tournament . They made the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament ( NIT ) , where they were defeated by eventual champions University of South Carolina . The 2007 Cardinal team was primarily the same team , with added freshmen . Picked to finish towards the bottom of the Big East Conference again , Pitino led them to a second-place finish , 12 – 4 ( tied with the University of Pittsburgh , who had been beaten by the Cardinals during the regular season ) in the conference standings and a first round bye in the conference tournament . Pitino implemented a 2 – 2 – 1 and 2 – 3 zone defense midway through the season . The 2007 team 's season ended when the Cardinals lost to Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Tournament . The 2008 Cardinals finished second in the Big East and ranked 13th in both the AP and Coaches ' polls . Louisville was the third seed in the 2008 NCAA tournament 's East region . They defeated Boise State , Oklahoma and Tennessee to advance to the Elite Eight , where they were defeated by North Carolina . Louisville was the top seed overall in the 2009 NCAA tournament and was planted as the first seed in the Midwest region . They defeated Morehead State , Siena and Arizona to advance to the Elite Eight , where they were defeated by Michigan State . In 2010 the Cardinals suffered a disappointing 15-point loss to their first round opponent , the California Golden Bears . In 2011 , Louisville was upset by 13th-seeded Morehead State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
Big East Tournament
2006 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Rick Pitino