UCLA vs. Kentucky might have had more of a blue blood feel, but St. John’s vs. Kentucky means Rick Pitino vs. Kentucky — for the first time since he was still at rival Louisville in 2016 — in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 20 in Atlanta.
That switcheroo for one of next season’s premier one-day men’s college basketball events was announced Thursday. UCLA opted out of the event and St. John’s took UCLA’s place opposite Kentucky. The other game in the doubleheader at State Farm Arena will pit North Carolina against Ohio State.
Pitino, 72 and entering his third season at St. John’s, coached at Kentucky from 1989-97, winning the 1997 national championship before leaving for the NBA’s Boston Celtics. Kentucky second-year coach Mark Pope was a reserve big man and team captain for Pitino on that championship UK team.
“It’s 30 years since you won your first national championship — and I got mine, thanks to you — and I think we should give the Johnnies and all of BBN (Big Blue Nation) the best Christmas present ever on Dec. 20 in ‘Catlanta,’” Pope said to Pitino in a video conference conversation posted on X. “What do you say?”
Said Pitino in response: “It feels like about seven or eight years ago that we won the championship, but I coached one of the greatest teams in the history of the game, and you were the captain. And now we get to coach against each other. I’m just turning 60 years of age and you’re still young.”
Pitino went from the toast of Lexington to primary rival when he took the Louisville job in 2001 after a failed NBA stint. He went 6-12 against the Wildcats at Louisville, in a tenure that ended with his 2017 firing amid scandal. His Cardinals won the 2013 national championship, but the NCAA later vacated that title.
UCLA put out a statement from AD Martin Jarmond, which said in part: “We want to bolster our home schedule, and I know that our fans are excited for the opportunity to add a game to Pauley Pavilion.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin commented several times last season on the challenges of the Bruins’ frequent trips east, in the program’s first season of Big Ten play.
(Photo of Mark Pope and Rick Pitino: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)