[Cactus Jack]

Per ESPN, Richard Pitino will be leaving Albuquerque for Cincinnati and is set to join his father in the Big East.

New Mexico has some history, but I'd think that Xavier is a better job overall just because of your ability to recruit in the region and have national exposure. Should be interesting having him on Kentucky's doorstep, especially if he's giving looks to in-state kids that might not have gotten them otherwise or didn't check all of the boxes for Kentucky or Louisville. Don't think it really effects either program as much as it does NKU, EKU, and WKU as the recruitment of a Marques Warrick, Taveion Hollingsworth, etc., probably plays out differently if he chooses to get involved.

Xavier might have upgraded from Sean Miller if you are looking at the long term. Pitino probably has no plans of being there forever, but for him to be able to use the job as a spring board, they're probably going to have to have more success in the NCAA Tournament than they've had in Miller's second go-round.