Rick Pitino had not worn his legendary white suit on the sidelines in more than a decade. That changed on Sunday after some encouragement from his family and a bribe to a tailor.
The tradition began in 2008.
Louisville was unranked coming into its home game against No. 6 Georgetown on Feb. 9. Pitino’s team was in desperate need of a signature win to ensure its place in the NCAA Tournament.
College GameDay was in town and it was a ‘White Out.’ Every single Cardinals fan wore white to the game. The atmosphere was already electric.
That was before Pitino emerged from the locker room in a suit that matched the theme. He sent the crowd into a frenzy that blew the roof off of the arena.
Pitino wore the all-white ensemble for a few different games throughout his tenure at Louisville. However, it never made an appearance in Greece or at Iona. In the Hall of Fame coach’s mind, the suit was retired.
He had not worn it this season with the Red Storm despite its matching color scheme.
Sunday marked its return.
Rick Pitino wore the white suit!
St. John’s took demoralizing loss to Seton Hall last weekend and Pitino ripped his players into shreds during the postgame press conference. His comments drew a lot of criticism from people who don’t understand that they were nothing out of the ordinary for him or his players. That’s just how Rick Pitino operates.
He leads with tough love, and later walked back some of his harsh words after a midweek win over Georgetown. His focus then shifted to what was the Red Storm’s biggest game of the year so far.
No. 15 Creighton rolled into Madison Square Garden to face St. John’s on the heels of an upset win over top-ranked UConn. The Mecca was rocking, and just like Feb. 9, 2008 — it was a white out.
Sean Stellato and Tommy Devito’s father didn’t get the memo but they were sitting courtside!
And then, just like that glorious day more than 16 years ago, Pitino emerged from the locker room in his white suit.
The Red Storm proceeded to lead the Blue Jays by 13 at halftime and went on to win by 14. Much like the 2008 Louisville team, St. John’s and Pitino were in need of a statement victory. They got one.
Their NCAA Tournament hopes are still alive and it is all because of the white suit. Probably. Definitely.
To make it even better, Pitino was not going to wear it. His family encouraged him to run it back and he had to “sweeten the pot” for an off-duty tailor to help him get it ready with less than 24 hours until tipoff.
Pitino wants to keep coaching college basketball for at least 10 years, and New York City (Queens) will be his last stop. Whenever he retires, it will mark the end of an era. Hopefully there will be more big games worthy of the white suit in the future!