ESPN Men's Basketball

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn't the same coach that guided Kentucky to the 1997 Final Four.

He's not even close to the same person.

Sure, he's as driven, intense and passionate about the game as he was in the mid-'90s. But this Pitino has changed so much since his last trip to the Elite Eight nine years ago.

On the court, he wasn't a major hit with the Boston Celtics and the two parties mutually agreed to part.

But that pales in comparison to his personal loss. His brother-in-law and best friend Billy Minardi was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

"Age and 9-1-1 will change me forever," Pitino said. "I'll never be the same person again."

Prior to that he had lost another brother-in-law in a freak cab accident in New York City.

Last year, he had to leave Louisville to go to the Cleveland Clinic to address an undisclosed illness. He missed one game.

Last December, his mother passed away.

"You just have to pour your heart out to the guy for everything he's been through," Louisville senior Larry O'Bannon said Friday as the Cardinals prepared to play West Virginia in Saturday's Albuquerque regional final.

"If we could get him to the ultimate in coaching and get him to the Final Four," O'Bannon said, "that would bring so much relief to him."

Pitino adores this group of seniors, the first group of players he coached when he arrived at Louisville four years ago.

"Coach Pitino has helped every guy on this team so it would mean a lot to give back to coach," Louisville senior Ellis Myles said. "He deserves it."

Pitino is on the verge of taking three teams (Providence in 1987 and Kentucky in 1993, '96 and '97 being the others) to the Final Four, a remarkable achievement that no coach has yet accomplished. Don't even think about the Celtics experience humbling him. It didn't. Pitino took from the losing and became a much better coach.

"Losing is a fertilizer to help further things grow," Pitino said. "I didn't point fingers and draw blame. I looked in the mirror and tried to see what I could do better."

Pitino has adjusted his coaching style throughout his four-year tenure at Louisville. He started out pressing and trapping, but as depth and injuries became an issue, the Cardinals couldn't get out of the second round. He has switched to using much more 2-3 zone this season and it has helped keep this team fresher.

None of the players on Louisville has been this far in the NCAA Tournament, but they have a certain sense of comfort knowing that Pitino is their coach. They know he's been here before and listen to every word he says. They don't panic.

"When you're down [in points], he doesn't change," Louisville junior guard Taquan Dean said. "He doesn't change. He's got the same demeanor and he gives you confidence that you can win anytime."

Pitino wasn't so sure if the Cards were going to win this big this season. The year began with recruits Sebastian Telfair and Donta Smith in the NBA instead of Louisville. Injuries to Myles (thumb) and Dean (coming off double hernia surgery) meant Pitino wasn't sure about how far the Cardinals could advance. He said he was more concerned that the Cards would struggle to reach the NCAAs, not advance this deep in the tournament.

That's why this team reminds him so much of the Providence team he took to the Final Four. He was surprised that they got to New Orleans. He had no idea this squad could ultimately be on the verge of getting to St. Louis.

Pitino has come a long way since that team in '87. He built a power in Lexington, coming off a major NCAA scandal. The program there had been embarrassed, according to Kentucky, but it still had a name. He said when he got to Louisville four years ago, the Cardinals had lost its brand name.

"The recruits didn't know Louisville and didn't know their brand anymore, so that was the toughest thing for us," Pitino said. "If it wasn't for Francisco and Taquan coming because they knew of me of the past, then I don't know. We would have been up the creek. It's great that we're back. And it will be even better now that we're going into the Big East."

"He's gone through so much from Kentucky to Louisville, so much adversity," Dean said. "We want to win this as much for him as for us."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.