Richard Pitino and Phil Martelli Jr. bring a deep appreciation of their famous dads to March Madness

CLEVELAND (AP) — Richard Pitino looked to his right and didn’t hesitate to put his son Jack on the spot.

The New Mexico coach wondered aloud ahead of the 10th-seeded Lobos’ first-round meeting with seventh-seeded Marquette on Friday who Jack might have picked to win it all in his bracket.

“St. John’s,” came the reply.

The same St. John’s, by the way, that happens to be coached by Jack’s grandfather, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino.

“There you go,” Richard Pitino said with a smile on Thursday. “You see where his loyalty lies.”

Such is both the blessing and the curse of having a last name that’s been synonymous with March Madness success for decades.

Sometimes, no matter what you do — like, say, lead your team to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, as Pitino has done this season at New Mexico — you’re not even your own family’s favorite coach.

Good thing Pitino grew comfortable in this position long ago. Then again, he knows he didn’t have much of a choice, given his profession.

Neither did Bryant coach Phil Martelli Jr., who played for his father Phil Sr. at Saint Joseph’s in the early 2000s when the Hawks briefly became fixtures in the brackets behind guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.

Even as Pitino and Martelli have established their own careers, they’re both aware the shadow of their fathers is never too far away. It could seem like a burden. They insist that it’s not.

Martelli, who led the Smithfield, Rhode Island, school to just its second tournament berth after capturing the American East championship last week, has lost track of the number of times a day he’ll hear his father’s words come out of his own mouth. Maybe it’s three. Maybe it’s five. It’s probably more.

There’s a long list of people the 43-year-old Martelli believes molded him. His father is at the top, though he points out that Phil Sr.'s impact on his life extends beyond any drill and any play that can be drawn up in the huddle.

“(He’s mentored) more the man than the coach, to be honest with you,” said Martelli, whose 15th-seeded team will play second-seeded Michigan State on Friday. “With him, it’s always about people. Yeah, we’re coaching basketball, but when you’re (doing) anything in life ... it boils down to people.”

Yet both Martelli and Pitino made it a point to try and carve their own respective paths. Pitino briefly joined his father’s staff at Louisville in the late 2000s until an opening popped up on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida when then-Gators assistant Shaka Smart took the head coaching job at VCU.

Donovan and the younger Pitino had known each other since Pitino was in elementary school and Donovan was hoisting 3-pointers for the older Pitino at Providence in the mid-1980s. Yet Richard Pitino called leaving his father’s side the best decision he’s ever made because it forced him out of his comfort zone.

“It got me to think differently and not try to be my dad,” said Richard Pitino, whose voice sounds almost like a copy of his father’s, minus the New York accent. “He’s a great coach to emulate, don’t get me wrong, but it really taught me to be my own man.”

There are differences, to be sure. His father is relentlessly intense — even at age 72 — and has never been shy about expressing himself to his players as loudly and bluntly as possible.

Richard Pitino is not quite that.

“He tries to stay away (from his) dad a lot more on the yelling side, the crazy side,” Lobos guard Donovan Dent said. “Coach P is more relaxed. He’ll get on you, but he’s like not his dad that much on the coaching side.”

That doesn’t mean Pitino is chill, exactly.

New Mexico senior forward Nelly Junior Joseph spent three years playing for Rick Pitino at Iona before transferring to the Lobos after Rick left for St. John’s. During a recent practice, Junior Joseph came up to Richard and jokingly told him, “I’m not going to get yelled at by another Pitino again. It’s been five years of you two. I’m sick of you guys.”

Junior Joseph was kidding. Pitino and Martelli were not when talking about how watching their fathers thrive in March drew them into their own life’s work.

A few decades ago, Richard Pitino and Phil Martelli Jr. were where Jack Pitino and Philip Martelli were on Thursday, sitting quietly to the side watching their fathers go to work during the most intense month in college basketball.

Maybe Philip Martelli will follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. Maybe he won’t. That’s for him to decide. All Phil Martelli Jr. wants is for his oldest son to enjoy the ride, a lesson he didn’t truly appreciate until he found out firsthand how hard it was to bring a team — and a family — to this moment.

“It’s a special thing,” Phil Martelli Jr. said. “It’s special to be in the tournament.”

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