| Personal Details Summary | |
|---|---|
| Name | Joanne Minardi |
| Age / How old / Birthday / Date of Birth / DOB | Born in 1953. As of 2024, she is around 71 years old. |
| Wedding & Marriage / Husband / Spouse / Partner / Dating | Married to Basketball Coach Rick Pitino. Check the full bio for relationship details. |
| Children / No. of Kids | 6 |
| Ethnicity / Origin / Heritage / Race | White |
| Nationality | American |
| Is Rick Pitino still married to his first wife? | He is married to his wife, Joanne Minardi. On 3 April 1976, the couple exchanged wedding vows. |
Biography / Profile Background
Personal Life : Parents, Family and Education
- Joanne Minardi is the co-founder of the Daniel Pitino Foundation & is most well-known for being the wife of American university star basketball coach Rick Pitino.
- She was born in 1953 in the Long Island area.
- She grew up being spoiled by her father as the only girl with two older brothers.
- She showed an interest in cooking from a young age, often testing her creations out on her father and brothers.
- While attending school in Oyster Bay High as a teenager, she met and began dating her future husband, Rick Pitino. She has been quoted as saying that he is the only man she has been with her entire life.
Marriage, Cheating Allegations and Affair :
- Joanne married her high school sweetheart Richard Andrew Pitino in 1976.
- He is better known as Rick Pitino, an all-American college basketball coach who has worked with the following universities – The University of Louisville; Boston University; Providence College & The University of Kentucky
- Minardi has five children with her husband, but unfortunately, one of their sons Daniel, died at six months old due to congenital heart failure.
- The names of their other children are as follows – Michael, Christopher, Richard, Ryan, and Jacqueline Pitino. Like his father, Richard too is a basketball coach.
Rick Pitino Affair Controversy :
- In 2009, cheating claims rocked their marriage. It was revealed Pitino had a one-night stand in August 2003, from which a woman named Karen Cunagin Sypher had become pregnant.
- At the time, Rick paid Karen $3000 to get an abortion. He thought the matter was resolved until she attempted to blackmail him in April 2009, and he was forced to tell his wife.
- Minardi made the decision to stand by him, and the two stood together in court in 2009 as the woman was charged & found guilty of extortion.
Net Worth, Career and The Daniel Pitino Foundation :
- The experience of the death of her son ripped her heart out, and to help deal with her grief, she and her husband established The Daniel Pitino Shelter.
- The Shelter was designed to help underprivileged children and children and women who are escaping domestic violence situations.
- Minardi famously wrote a poem for the launch of the foundation, simply titled ‘Daniel,’ which as of 2017 can still be found on the homepage of the organization’s website.
Tragedies :
- On September 11, 2001, the entire family was shaken to the core by the news of the 9/11 attacks taking place at World Trade Center and the knowledge that Joanne’s big brother Billy Minardi was inside the first tower.
- Billy was the best friend of Rick and served as the best man at their wedding.
- On that day, he was working in the first tower as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald.
- His body was recovered from the rubble, and he has been honored at the memorial in New York City.
- Rick often teased Joanne, saying that he married her “only to be close to Billy.”
- Unfortunately, a few months after the 9/11 tragedy, Joanne’s sister’s husband, Don Vogt, was killed by an NYC cab driver.
Oyster Bay high??? What the…Try Holy Trinity Diocesan High in Hicksville, NY where Joanne actually went to school.
Yes Holy Trinity HS, Hicksville .NY not Oyster Bay HS or St. Dominicks HS as previously reported.