Former Minnesota head basketball coach Richard Pitino is back in major college basketball.

On Tuesday, the 42-year-old was hired as the next head coach of the Xavier Musketeers, taking over for Sean Miller, who left the Cincinnati-based program for the Texas Longhorns.

Pitino heads to Xavier after a successful four-year stint with the New Mexico Lobos, leading them to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

Before his time at New Mexico, Pitino spent eight seasons with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, leading them to two NCAA Tournament appearances but failing to finish above .500 in three of his last four seasons before being let go following the 2020-21 campaign.

Overall, in his eight seasons with the program, Pitino compiled a 141-123 record. In the four seasons since his departure from the Twin Cities, the Gophers have gone a combined 56-71 under now-former head coach Ben Johnson. Johnson was fired after the completion of the Gophers' 2024-25 season earlier this month Colorado State head coach Mark Coyle was tapped to lead the program going forward.

In 2024-25, Xavier finished 22-12 under Sean Miller and made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons after missing the Big Dance from 2018 through 2022.

============================

- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.

- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @RivalsDylanCC

- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation