Rick Pitino dons replica sweater to honor legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca

one week later the death of lou carneseccaRick Pitino found the perfect way to honor the legendary St. John’s men’s basketball coach.

Pitino had his tailor create a replica of the iconic sweater Carnesecca wore as a good luck charm during the 1985 Final Four season in St. John.

When he stepped onto the court before St. John’s 88-71 victory over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon, a smiling Pitino opened his sports jacket to show off the custom-made sweater for fans at Carnesecca Arena. The crowd loved the tribute, as did St. John’s fans on social media.

The striking red, blue and brown “V”-shaped sweater was originally a gift to Carnesecca from an Italian Olympic team coach. He first wore it during a 19-game winning streak during the 1984-85 season, a streak that included a 66-65 victory at No. 1 Georgetown.

When Georgetown arrived at Madison Square Garden for the rematch on January 26, 1985, Hoyas coach John Thompson had a surprise for Carnesecca. He kept his jacket buttoned until just before kickoff when he revealed that he was wearing a replica of Carnesecca’s sweater underneath.

Patrick Ewing and Georgetown defeated Chris Mullin and St. John’s 85-69 that day. Since then, this has been known as “the sweater game.”

Carnesecca was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, the same year he retired as a coach. He led St. John’s to a 526-200 overall record and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances in 24 seasons.

Carnesecca’s death occurred just a month before what would have been his centenary. Saturday’s game at St. John was the first on the schedule since Carnesecca’s death.

St. John’s players paid tribute to Carnesecca with a special patch on their jersey that resembles his famous sweater and with warm-up pants bearing his name.

St. John’s also held a moment of silence before the game for Carnesecca and played a tribute video.

Earlier in the week, Pitino described Carnesecca as “an iconic San Juan man.”

“His coaching experience was as good as anyone in basketball,” Pitino said, “but the man he was surpassed it. Rest in peace, Looie. We will miss you very much.”