Chris Stapleton will always remember the words that legendary college basketball coach, Rick Pitino, shared at his basketball camp. Most of us only know Stapleton as the rocking country music star with arguably the best voice in all of the business. But what if I told you that he once had dreams to lace up his shoes and play college basketball under the bright lights? That might be a stretch to say honestly. That assumption is just based off of a picture that was shared by legendary college basketball coach Rick Pitino back in early 2024. He’s one of the only head coaches to lead two different universities to NCAA titles… if you disregard the fact that the NCAA took away his most recent national championship at the University of Louisville. As a Louisville fan, I don’t have the energy to get into that whole situation. You probably know what happened, and what led the NCAA to vacate Pitino’s 2013 NCAA title with the Louisville Cardinals. Since he left Louisville, he’s had coaching stints overseas, at Iona University, and now is the head coach of St. John’s up in New York. And way back in the day, he got his first national championship with the University of Kentucky. From 1989 to 1997, Pitino coached the Wildcats, and led them to one of their many NCAA titles in 1996. Somewhere in those years, he also hosted a Rick Pitino Basketball Camp in Lexington, Kentucky, and guess who was there? Chris Stapleton. The “White Horse” singer was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, so the timeline makes sense for him to have participated at the UK basketball camp. He must have had a rather memorable showing at the camp too, because many years later, the former Kentucky coach tracked down this photo of a young Stapleton and said this: “Chris Stapleton at Kentucky Wildcats basketball camp. Didn’t like the way he played defense. Told him to go into music instead. Don’t thank me Chris, it’s okay.” @ChrisStapleton at KY Wildcat basketball camp. Didn't like the way he played defense. Told him to go into music instead. Don't thank me Chris, it's ok pic.twitter.com/NRZioGzglw — Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) January 7, 2024 So because Stapleton didn’t play great defense (which is a staple of any Pitino led team), the Kentucky coach allegedly told him to spend his time doing something else other than basketball… like going into music. It’s great to imagine that the great Rick Pitino was responsible for Stapleton’s country music career. He’s obviously joking in that post, but thanks to a new episode of New Heights (hosted by the Kelce brothers) that featured Chris Stapleton, we now know that there was something that Pitino said during that camp that stuck with the country music superstar. Jason Kelce was asking Stapleton if playing and listening to multiple forms of music makes you a better musician. The “Broken Halos” singer’s mind immediately went to multi-sport athletes and how playing multiple sports can actually help make you better all around, which took him back to a quote from Pitino that the coach delivered at his Lexington camp: “I have to share this just because it popped into my head as you were saying that. When I was a kid, I went to Rick Pitino basketball camp. Rick Pitino spoke to us before the camp or whatever. He was like, ‘Now in order to be a good basketball player, you have to play three sports: one on one basketball, three on three basketball, and five on five basketball.’ That popped in my head as you were saying that.” So Rick Pitino DID have an impact on Chris Stapleton’s music career after all. I say that because Stapleton’s actual answer to the question shows that Pitino’s advice – which was partly joking and partly serious – did stick with the singer and songwriter: “I do think there’s something that can strengthen you as a musician if you can at least have a working knowledge of a lot of different kinds of music. But at some point, all these influences kind of converge into whatever it is that you are and that’s what that is.” You can hear more from Chris Stapleton (and get extra insight into his sports past) in the latest episode of New Heights: The post Chris Stapleton Shares The Advice From Rick Pitino That Stuck With Him When He Attended Basketball Camp As A Kid first appeared on Whiskey Riff.