Back in 2001, when Louisville – really Tom Jurich – was looking for a coach to replace legendary Coach Crum, he looked to one man and one man only, Rick Pitino.  Coach P, however, had several other suitors, namely UNLV and Michigan.  He said he was close to signing with Michigan to be their head coach, until his wife called him out.

“The day that I committed to Louisville, I signed an agreement to be the next head coach of Michigan and I was fired up to be the coach at Michigan,” Pitino said. “The athletic director at the time, who’s no longer there (Bill Martin), was playing squash and my wife came up, she just didn’t want me to go to the west coast, UNLV, and be away from the children. She agreed, okay let’s go to Michigan.”

Pitino — a former Kentucky coach — then explained that his wife called him out for being afraid to go back to the state of Kentucky to coach at Louisville, his old school’s arch rival.

She eventually convinced him to change his mind, and due to one of Martin’s squash matches, Pitino informed Michigan of his decision via voicemail.

It appears that his wife Joanne needs to be credited with one huge assist.