Pitino Considering Offer to Run Nets

Only a month after saying he wasn’t about to leave Kentucky, Rick Pitino says he is thinking about leaving the national champions to be coach, general manager and part-owner of the New Jersey Nets.

Pitino said at a news conference Friday that he is considering an offer from the Nets after conversations the last few days between his agent, Rick Avare, and the NBA team.

Michael Rowe, president of the Nets, said he and board chairman Henry Taub met with Pitino and his agent, Rick Avare, for three hours Friday and made him an offer than would make him the highest-paid coach in the NBA.

‘The offer that was discussed was complete enough that no further negotiations were scheduled or necessary,” Rowe said.

The meeting with Pitino wasn’t scheduled until late Thursday night, according to Rowe.

Pitino, who last month turned down a five-year, $20-million offer to coach the Nets, said he was addressing the subject because of a report in New York Daily News.

“This is not a coaching change,” said Pitino, 43. “This is a career move. I’ve been here seven years, six years longer than many of you thought.”

Pitino said he will discuss the offer with Nets’ officials before leaving on a weeklong trip to Ireland that begins Sunday. He said he would not announce his decision until after he returns.

“Do I want at my age right now to take on this challenge and try to make that a model of excellence at the next level?” said Pitino, a New York native who coached the Knicks from 1987-89. “That’s something I’ve got to decide. You’re going to hear a lot of high figures, but money will not come into the equation.”

Last month, Pitino said “there would be no way I’d leave Kentucky. I have no interest in any situation right now,” he said at the time. “It wouldn’t matter what opened up. I would not leave Kentucky at this point in my life.”