with the Saint John’s Red Storm to respect Legendary coach Lou Carnicica — who died last week. At the age of 99 — Current men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino pays tribute in a unique way.
Pitino It is known To don a wide array of Italian-style suits on the sidelines throughout his career, he chose to do a look against it. Kansas State Wildcats One that would make Cornesica proud — a patterned sweater.
It wasn’t just any sweater.
The “Sweater Game”… 40 seasons later pic.twitter.com/VgZtNwUcMV
— St. John’s Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) December 7, 2024
Like Pitino and his suits, Cornecica was known for sporting loud sweaters during his coaching tenure. Perhaps his most famous knit look came during the Red Storm’s 1985 Final Four season, when Carnesecca wore a brown sweater with a red and blue “V” pattern on the front during the winning streak.
The 19-game winning streak ended with a “Sweater Game” between top-ranked St. John’s and then-No. 2 Classification Georgetown Hoyas at Madison Square Garden, where Georgetown coach John Thompson approached Cornesica before the game and revealed that he himself was wearing a replica of the lucky sweater.
“I didn’t mind him trying, but the worst part was, he hit me that night, it really hurt. He could have kept the sweater!” Carnesica Remembered years later.
Pitino had his own replica of the custom brown sweater, Which he put down On the mid-court logo at the Cornesica Arena after the game.
Kansas State coach Jerome Tang also paid tribute to Carnesica with a purple sweater. His own. The Red Storm defeated the Wildcats. 88-71 to move to 7-2 on the season.