College basketball icon Bill Raftery and Lobo coach Richard Pitino share special bond

Richard Pitino waved the white flag before the opening tip.

He knew what was coming from college basketball icon Bill Raftery, who would be coming to Albuquerque for the second-consecutive year for CBS Sports’ national broadcast of the San Diego State-New Mexico game Saturday in the sold-out Pit.

“He’ll call you, ‘Oh, you want to get a drink tonight?’” Pitino explained with a big smile on Friday. “I’m like, ‘Coach, I got a game at 11 a.m. tomorrow. I’m not going to be out on the town.’ That’s never stopped him before.”

Raftery, the 81-year-old basketball analyst, is a longtime family friend of not only Rick Pitino (Richard’s father), but also Billy Minardi (Richard’s late uncle).

Whether he likes people to say it or not, Raftery has become a legend in the game, maybe not as much for his coaching as for the admiration he’s gained through more than four decades of commentating, not to mention his ability to lightheartedly sprinkle in some of the most memorable calls and catchphrases in the game.

“Onions!”

“Send it in!” as Jerome Lane threw down his backboard-shattering slam dunk in 1988.

“A little kiss!”

“I’ve been so lucky to do this for so long,” Raftery told the Journal on Friday before heading over to the Pit — an arena he was first in for the 1983 National Championship game between North Carolina State and Houston in his first year working for CBS Sports.

Raftery said he was blown away by Lobo fans when he called last year’s game against SDSU.

“I just think that it’s a great advantage for this team, to grow with people putting their arms around them, supporting them like they do here. It’s a great reinforcement,” Raftery said. “Every night, you’re not going to be at your best, or your optimum, and the urging or the backing certainly helps ...

“I think it goes hand in hand — when you have a good program and good teams, they’ve always got great home support, and this is one of the best in the country.”

For Richard Pitino, the family connections and Pit love are mere bonuses when it comes to his admiration for Raftery.

“I’ve never met a guy who’s just about others more than him,” Pitino said. “I mean, I get several calls a year (from him), and I’m like, you’re on the East Coast, and he’ll call me after a game and just congratulate me. He doesn’t need to do that. ...

“We keep getting force-fed that football is king, football is king. And I love football, but you’ve got ambassadors like Bill Raftery who just — they promote this amazing game. He’s as genuinely as good person as I have ever been around, and a guy who’s got, I don’t know, 40 years on me, that could out-drink me any day of the week.”

Raftery, known to hold court a time or two in a hotel bar, laughed at hearing Pitino’s comments.

The former high school and college basketball star says he got into coaching to be the next John Wooden. When runs at Fairleigh Dickenson-Madison and his 11-season stint at Seton Hall came to an end, he got into broadcasting until next thing came along.

That was 1983.

“I was never expecting it to mushroom the way it has, to develop into so many great opportunities, including the Final Four,” Raftery said.

Raftery says the admiration for Pitino is mutual.

“Seeing him grow has been really impressive,” Raftery said. “When I say grow, he always had the knowledge. But now he’s confident, knows how he wants to play, and gets a good response from the kids. He knows how to get them to play hard. I think that’s the one thing you have to have as a coach.”

Raftery will be on Saturday’s call alongside play-by-play analyst Spero Dedes.