Coach Rick Pitino has had the year of his life. First as a father he got to watch his son have great success at his first coaching stop and then got to watch Richard parlay that into landing a Big Ten coaching job at Minnesota. Then he and the Louisville basketball team have a magical season winning the final Big East Tournament and a National Championship. While in Atlanta for the Final Four Rick got his name added among the greats and was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

The road of the college basketball season ends at the Final Four but not Rick Pitino’s good fortune. After he got back from Atlanta he was able to enjoy the Kentucky Derby as a 5% owner of one of the Derby favorites. That horse wouldn’t win but it had to be a huge honor nonetheless. Then this week on a trip in the Bahamas with some buddies coach Pitino goes Marlin fishing and catches an 80 pounder.

So how do you put a bow on a run like that? Well around these parts you get your face on a Makers Mark bottle. That’s right Cards fans its time to add to the bourbon bottle collection as Makers Mark announced today that an upcoming bottle will feature Coach Rick Pitino. The bottle is the second of a three-year commitment by Maker’s Mark, that has pledged over $500,000 in support of the Academic Center of Excellence. 12,600 bottles will be available to the public, and details on how to purchase the bottle will be announced at a later date.

This Makers Mark series started last year with a bottle featuring Coach Charlie Strong. That bottle was a hot item last year and flew out of every Liquor Store store in the state of Kentucky. They sold over 8400 of the Strong bottles and will have 12,600 of the Pitino bottles available when released.

Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino had not had a break for months and decided to step away from basketball and Louisville after the Kentucky Derby celebrations had ended. Pitino and a group of friends headed to a remote island in the Bahamas for a little rest and relaxation. On this trip, Pitino and his group decided to do a little deep-water white marlin fishing. This was the first time Coach Pitino had tried his luck at the elusive fish. So what happens when coach sinks his lure for the first time? He lands an 80 pounder that’s what. How about the luck of this guy? According to the information I was able to look up the average size of the white marlin is 45 to 65 pounds and it is not a common thing to catch one bigger. I’m glad to see Coach P’s lucky streak is still intact and I hope it stays that way until around this time next year. Hat Tip to Jody Demling for tweeting out these pictures tonight. Great stuff!