Pitino to coach Puerto Rico basketball

MIAMI, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Louisville Coach Rick Pitino has agreed to coach the Puerto Rican national team at least through qualification for the 2012 Olympics.

FIBA Americas, the governing body for international basketball in the Western Hemisphere, said Pitino met with representatives of the Puerto Rican basketball federation Sunday in Miami.

Also at the meeting were NBA players Jose Juan Barea and Carols Arroyo, who are Puerto Rican.

FIBA Americas said Pitino will coach the team next summer during qualification for the 2012 Olympics in London. The FIBA Americas Championship, set for August in Argentina, is the tournament that determines which teams from the region advance to the Olympics.

Puerto Rico has failed to qualify for two of the last three Olympic Games. Puerto Rico was sixth in the 2004 Games in Athens.

Pitino has coached the NBA's Boston Celtics and New York Knicks and has been a collegiate coach at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville. Pitino guided Kentucky to the 1996 NCAA tournament title.