Pitino Says He’s Staying Put

Kentucky coach Rick Pitino stopped by Boston on Monday to pitch his new motivational book. The bad news is, he isn’t staying.

The man many hope will return the Boston Celtics to their former glory said he isn’t interested in the job.

“It’s not that I don’t have any interest in coming here. I have a lot of interest,” he said at a bookstore at Boston University, the school where he began his coaching career. “But I am infatuated with my players at Kentucky.”

Speculation that Pitino, who led the Wildcats to the NCAA title in 1996 and to the final game this year, would take over the Celtics increased in recent days when it was reported Larry Bird had spoken with him about the job.

The former Celtics star, who stayed on with the team as a special assistant, reportedly was given permission by owner Paul Gaston to talk with potential successors, even though M.L. Carr is still coach.

Pitino told Bird to wait until the college season was over.

Two days after Kentucky lost in the NCAA final, Bird called again.

But Pitino stressed Monday that it was merely a “casual conversation” - not a job interview.