What if Rick Pitino stayed at Kentucky?

What if? A slogan for the SciFi channel among other things, the "What If" segment takes a look at what could/would have been had Rick Pitino stayed at Kentucky.

The last three years of the Rick Pitino era (the 3rd one being the first year under Tubby Smith), the Kentucky program won two national championships and had consecutive three Final Four appearances. Rick Pitino was able to recruit like crazy at that point. Was that the peak or would he be able to sustain the program at such a high level? The trend of players jumping to the NBA draft would have affected his rosters, but given that he had a loaded bench, would that be significant? Would Rick Pitino be considered the poster child of college basketball coaches instead of Coach K? How many more national championships would he have gotten? Enough to be considered the closest thing to a modern-era John Wooden? Or was the three year segment a peak, an abberation and the Wildcats would have landed back down on earth in years after?

Back to reality now: It has certainly taken Pitino a while to rebuild the Louisville program. But if you compare his progress in his early years at Kentucky with that of Louisville, they are almost running in parallel. So that means in the next couple of years we should be seeing a consistently dominant Louisville team? Perhaps. Perhaps not? After all, the basketball landscape has changed twelve years later. This year's team may be an indicator. Louisville has the talent, the depth and the potential. But can the players stay healthy, and can the freshman deliver on both ends of the floor? If yes, this year's team could make the Final Four and perhaps more.