When it comes to well-timed releases of publications, no book could have hit the shelves in a more timely fashion than Rick Pitino’s “Rebound Rules: The Art of Success 2.0” (219 pgs. Harper-Collins, $29.95). With the crisis in the U.S. economy, housing markets, global turmoil and unrest on a personal level, no time could be better than now to get good advice on how to bounce back.

  While Pitino, who is currently the head basketball coach for the University of Louisville, is known for hoops, the book, co-written with ESPN’s Pat Forde, is not as much about basketball as it is about life in general.

  Unlike past motivational books written by Pitino, “Rebound Rules,” is derived from a more introspective look into the coach’s life that the public has seen in the past. Pitino allows readers inside his own sufferings and personal tragedies from which he has rebounded. From his failure as head coach of the Boston Celtics in 2001 to the death of his infant son in 1987, to the loss of his brother-in-law and best friend Billy Minardi in the September 11, attacks on the World Trade Center; Pitino relates how to cope with the past and take steps back onto the path to success.

  Throughout the book Pitino uses basketball as a metaphor for business success, but one does not have to read between the lines to also find instructions on how to find success within a family setting and on a personal level.

  But even if one reads the book from strictly an athletic standpoint, the information inside is invaluable. Throughout Goochland County, coaches and athletes alike will not only find advice on how to bounce back from failure but also how to maintain current levels of success. From the monumental accomplishments of the Goochland soccer teams to the triumphs of the golf and cross country teams to setbacks seen by the Bulldogs’ baseball and football squads, there are words of wisdom for everyone.

  For me, the book was especially poignant because I was a member of the press in attendance when Pitino first spoke publically about the death of Minardi, which came only months after his departure from the Celtics and having dealt with the death of another brother-in-law earlier in the year. The look in Pitino’s eyes was one that showed a man who had reached a crossroads in life and grasped a new realization of what was truly important.

  To realize the depth of that most recent loss on 9/11, one must understand the closeness of the relationship between Pitino and Minardi as he related it during that 2001 press conference. “Since Billy was 13, he made every high school game, every NCAA game, every important college basketball game that I coached,” Pitino said. “Family outing, golfing trip, we’ve spoken every day for 33 years.” Pitino even joked that being friends with Billy was a good reason to marry Minardi’s sister Joanne.

  Pitino not only rebounded from the tragedy, but learned valuable lessons on how to cope with personal disasters.

  Since he arrived on the basketball scene, Pitino has stood as one of the premiere motivators in the world of sports as well as the business world. Over the few years I spent covering Pitino, it was evident to me that he could make a person believe they could walk through walls. And Pitino, for his part, weakened those barriers to create success where failure loomed.

  One such story that Pitino relates in the book, is that of Ellis Myles. I first met Myles as a temperamental player who came to Louisville from the gang-filled streets of Compton, California. It was the general opinion of media, public and athletic personnel alike, that Myles would be the first casualty of Pitino’s discipline and intense coaching style at Louisville.  But rather than dismiss Myles, Pitino gave the young man a chance to prove something not only to the coach but to himself.

  “I’ve been working really hard on changing his attitude; attitude in life as well as basketball,” Pitino said in that 2001 press conference. “We’re making headway. I think I’ve got to continue along those lines. I think we’re going to have a lot of bumps along the road but I see great progress in him.”

  Pitino’s transformation of Myles took the player from the oft-labeled ‘punk’ to a man of respect who was the team leader during the Cardinals 2005 Final Four run. Furthermore, Myles currently serves on the coaching staff at Louisville.

  Throughout “Rebound Rules”, Pitino offers many such examples of those who have overcome stumbling blocks on the way to success. Likewise he also points out those who could not maintain success once they reached the summit. The coach then goes on to provide remedies for either situation.

  But it is Pitino’s final chapter of the book that is the most thought-provoking of all.  “The Final Act,” not only forces the reader to face their future, mortality and the legacy they will leave behind, but it also makes one take a close look at the present.

    “Nobody’s professional growth curve is an unbroken upward line…Failures will occur. Crises will crop up. Confidence and self-esteem will be challenged, and in such times, people accustomed to success will experience the darkness of doubt, something that can attack you professionally, personally, and spiritually. Every single person will, at one point or another, have this experience. It is darkness. You’re afraid- and when fear comes in, you make poor decisions.”
    Rick Pitino: Rebound Rules