Maryland 'heavily' pursuing Iona's Rick Pitino for head-coaching vacancy?

A new set of rumors indicates that Rick Pitino could once again find himself coaching in a power conference at some point in the near future.

A report on “The Sports Junkies” radio show on 106.7 The Fan in Washington claimed Wednesday that Pitino is being “heavily pursued” by Maryland. Last week, Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports had named Pitino as a “wild-card” candidate for the position when discussing potential hires.

Hiring Pitino would certainly be controversial. He is currently in his second season at Iona and has the Gaels well-positioned for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The 69-year-old is one of the most accomplished college coaches still active and has more than 800 wins to his name. Of course, Pitino also has a spotty record behind the scenes, and he lost his job at Louisville over allegations that he was involved in a recruiting bribery scheme.

Pitino was said to be the subject of interest of another Big Ten school last year, but he shot that down in no uncertain terms. That said, he’s made bold statements before that did not come true, and it’s tough to imagine him turning Maryland down if the Terps really do come calling.

Maryland is in the hunt for a replacement for Mark Turgeon, who stepped down from the head-coaching position in December.