LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- "I love the city. I love the fans. I love everything about my players; my players are so special to me," said former UofL basketball coach Rick Pitino.
Pitino took part in a question and answer session with the Courier-Journal Friday night at the Omni, after spending more than two hours signing 500 copies of his new book “Pitino: My Story.”
Pitino says he has no desire to return to the game and wanted to come back to Louisville to give his fans an opportunity to hear directly from him. "I wanted to give closure on a lot of different things. The book was therapy for me. It was closure to a career," he said.
Pitino told Jeff Greer of the Courier he's also still bitter about the way he was fired, saying he won't let three people, who he did not name, change the memories he's had with his team.
"It hurts, obviously the way it happens. Sixteen years I've been here. I eat, sleep and drink the game of basketball. I am very passionate about it," Pitino said.
For more than two hours, Pitino signed copies of his new book, calling it his goodbye to basketball.
"He's the greatest coach of all time, in my opinion," Thomas Bradley told WHAS11.
He was the first in line, having driven from near Lexington. "I support him. I believe probably everything that's in this book. It's all in there. His story makes sense to me," Bradley said.
Marlena Brown and her two sisters drove from Elizabethtown. They wanted to see Pitino for their mother who was a fan during his UK years. She passed away in 2009. "He was just amazing with what he's been through. I just totally sympathize. I totally do," she said.
Pitino denies any wrongdoing in the recent play for pay scandal and says his book is the Gospel truth. "I wanted closure on the truth about what it's all about. I feel good about the book because it is the truth," he said.
“Pitino: My Story” was released earlier this month.
