Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino was thrust into parenting duties during Minnesota’s loss to Purdue on Sunday. He was sitting on the bench, watching his players on the other end of the court, when his 4-year-old son approached during the action at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
Jack Pitino was sitting in the second row, taking in a road game because “he’s starting to love basketball,” and this father-son bonding time was an alternative to their regular activity of going to the movies, Richard said Tuesday.
Then Jack broke one of the two rules his father tried to “lecture” him about before the game:
No. 1: Don’t go on the court.
No. 2: Don’t interrupt Daddy when he’s coaching.
But there was Jack, needing his dad.
“All of a sudden I see his head and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness what is he about to do?’ ” Pitino said.
Pitino thought Jack might need a snack. Nope, it was more pressing: He had to go to the bathroom.
Without his mother, Jill, there, Pitino turned and asked a team manager to help, um, alleviate the situation.
The video of the scene went viral Monday:
Hey!!! When you gotta go, you gotta go!!!! Even if your Dad is in the middle of a battle with @BoilerBall #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/6PVCf89r01
— Dave Marren (@DaveMarren) February 4, 2019
“I think I covered all the basis of not upsetting our fan base by ignoring the game,” Pitino said. “And then pulling at the heart strings of people for being perceived as a good father because we all know we have moments where we don’t look like great parents.”
That was actually the second time Jack broke the rules Sunday. The first time was cuter.
“He said, ‘Are you winning?’ ” Pitino relayed. “I said, ‘We are winning, actually.’ ”
Jack’s engagement wouldn’t last, which was maybe for the best. He was sleeping for the last three minutes of the game and missed the end of the Gophers’ loss, 73-63, to the No. 17-ranked Boilermakers.
“He fell asleep in the last three minutes of the game in one of the toughest places to play in the country, so it’s a lesson to my wife who always complains that I’m too loud, like opening up a drawer at night when the kids are sleeping,” Pitino said. “They can sleep through anything. Lesson learned, Jill.”
Ribbing aside, Pitino was proud of his son.
“Overall, though, he was MVP of the game because he was actually very well-behaved,” Pitino said. “… It would have been a lot better if we had won, so we could have really appreciated it.”