St. John's coach Rick Pitino's white suit a fashion slam dunk
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino reacts against Creighton during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Is it any surprise that St. John’s scored its signature victory of the season — the 80-66 stunner of No. 15 Creighton before 12,061 Sunday at the Garden — and coach Rick Pitino was dressed in a white suit?
Pitino went with the white suit look a few times when he coached Louisville. The first time was on Feb. 9, 2008, when the Cardinals were desperate for a significant victory. That day they beat visiting sixth-ranked Georgetown.
St. John’s dubbed Sunday “Johnnies Day” and held a "white-out," draping 12,000 seats with white T-shirts marking the occasion. Pitino went with it by donning the white suit.
Pitino’s entrance Sunday was greeted by the season's most vocal St. John’s home crowd with a standing ovation as he came on to the court to Alicia Keys' “Empire State of Mind.” But it was the reaction of the Red Storm players that the Hall of Fame coach was really looking for.
“I actually wasn't going to wear it — it was a last-minute thing,” Pitino said at the postgame news conference. “My wife [Joanne] kept saying ‘You got to wear it — the players will love it, the players will love it.’ And so at [4 p.m.] yesterday, I decided to go down the street from my apartment and ask them if they could help me. They said ‘Yes, they could help me.' ”
Pitino said his Manhattan apartment is “half a block” from the Armani store.
“We knew we had to win when he came out in that," said Glenn Taylor Jr., who delivered his most impactful game with 10 rebounds and six assists.
“We can’t lose. When he came out in that?” is how Daniss Jenkins, who had 27 points, described his reaction. “The coach looked sharp. He was clean. We can’t lose when the coach has that on.”
Asked if he thought of breaking out the original suit, Pitino replied, “I couldn’t fit into the old one.”
Pitino, though, doesn’t appear to be superstitious — at least not regarding clothing. He said the suit is going back in his closet until the next time the school holds a "white-out."
“I'm going to just put it aside for next year, unless we have another 'white-out.’ " he said. “But my players were going to get a big kick out of it and that’s why I did it.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.