RAINBOW BASKETBALL

Former UH assistant
Pitino enjoys working
in television

DAYTON, Ohio -- Rick Pitino, who resigned as Boston Celtics head coach earlier this year, is the color analyst for the CBS crew here.

Pitino started his career as a Hawaii assistant, then went to Syracuse and later became one of the hottest coaching properties in the sport. He is reportedly on the verge of accepting the Louisville job, vacated by Denny Crum last week.

Pitino said yesterday, however, he enjoys the relatively low-stress television work.

"Very much so," said Pitino, who worked the broadcast of the tournament's opening game Tuesday night and was slated to do the same for tonight's Hawaii-Syracuse game. "It may be something I should do permanently."

Said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim: "Unless he gets a job tomorrow, he might be out recruiting. Rick was the first guy I hired. He's a tremendous coach. He has a better understanding of what needs to be done than any other coach in the business."

Pitino and Hawaii coach Riley Wallace had a brief but friendly chat before the Rainbows' practice yesterday.

School daze

Several Rainbows have taken exams while on the current road trip. Yesterday, they also did a little teaching.

The team went to nearby Kennedy Elementary School, where the seven international players and six Americans told the children about the places they come from.

"We had a lot of fun and taught them about teamwork (and) how important it is to stay in school, and took lots of pictures," senior captain Nerijus Puida said.

Said team psychologist Michael D'Andrea, "I think the players and the kids both got a lot out of that."

Tip-ins

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim owns a 31-20 NCAA Tournament record, having led the Orangemen into the NCAAs in 21 of his 25 seasons. ... SU walk-on Tim Byrnes was a member of the school's 2000 NCAA championship lacrosse team. ... Syracuse averages 36.1 rebounds per game and yields 38.0. Hawaii gets 32.3 and gives up the same number. ... CBS play-by-play man Tim Brando, who is doing tonight's game, is the brother of Star-Bulletin copy editor Curt Brandao.

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Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin