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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Tom Dierberger

St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino Perfectly Described Story Behind Viral All-White Suit

Rick Pitino made waves Sunday afternoon by debuting a new all-white suit to participate in the St. John’s fan “whiteout” for the Red Storm’s matchup against Big East foe Creighton.

It certainly caught the eye of all 12,061 fans at Madison Square Garden—and plenty more on social media.

After the game, Pitino told the story behind his new look.

The 71-year-old Hall of Fame coach walked from his apartment to a nearby Armani store on Saturday to buy a new white suit and join the Red Storm fans in the planned whiteout. His wife, Joanne, had urged him to purchase a new white suit.

“I couldn’t fit in the old white suit,” Pitino said with a smile Sunday, referring to the outfit he famously wore previously at Louisville, per college basketball reporter John Fanta.

Well, his new look worked. The Red Storm outscored Creighton by 13 points in the first half and hung on for an 80–66 win, taking down a Bluejays team just days removed from upsetting No. 1 UConn at home.

College basketball fans are clamoring for Pitino to keep his all-white look rolling:

St. John’s improved to 16–12 overall and 8–9 in Big East play with Sunday’s win over Creighton (20–8, 11–6). The Red Storm return to the court Wednesday at Butler (16–12, 7–10) for an 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff.

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