<
>
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Get ESPN+

Why is Rick Pitino coaching the Puerto Rican National Team?

Rick Pitino prepares for Puerto Rico's first Pan Am game against Brazil, a game Puerto Rico lost 92-59. Harry How/Getty Images

There's no Karl-Anthony Towns among this group. In fact, Rick Pitino's current team is made up primarily of anonymous former college players and current pros who exhausted their college eligibility long ago.

So why on Earth is Pitino coaching the Puerto Rico National Team in the Pan Am Games this week? And why is he taking a more talented but still mostly mediocre group to Mexico City in August in hopes of qualifying for next year's Olympics?

Unlike his rival, John Calipari, who coached Towns as a 16-year-old on the Dominican Republic's national Team back in 2011, there's no future No. 1 pick -- or even a potential NBA draft pick -- on this team.

"Everyone thinks I'm doing it to get a player," Pitino said. "But these guys are all older. There are no recruits."