If you read the title of this post, you may think it isn’t a big deal, just another award for Rick Pitino. Then when I say that the runner-up was Tom Jurich and in third place was Teddy Bridgewater, you may think that this was a poll done on Louisville’s campus. This is actually the Lexington Hearald-Leader Kentucky Sportsman of the Year, and it is voted on by media members in Kentucky. So yes, in a Lexington-based newspaper, the top 3 vote-getters were Rick Pitino, Tom Jurich, and Teddy Bridgewater. Not too bad. Other interesting finishers in the top 10: Charlie Strong and 9th and Russ Smith at 10th.
Top 10 in voting
1. Rick Pitino
2. Tom Jurich
3. Teddy Bridgewater
4. Dominique Hawkins
5. Kenny Perry
6. Makayla Epps
7. Antonio Andrews
8. A’dia Mathies
9. Charlie Strong
10. Russ Smith
Pitino becomes the first person to win this award three times. He also won it in 1990 and 1996. In 2013, Pitino led the Cardinals to a National Championship, was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had a horse (Goldencents) run in the Kentucky Derby, got a tattoo, caught a marlin, and drank a lot of coconut water.
Your move 2014.
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