After all, St. John’s and Connecticut will play at The Garden next year, Rick Pitino said Friday.
The Hall of Fame coach has said several times that he would like to play against the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena next year in honor of Lou Carnesecca, who is celebrating his 100th birthday.
But that won’t happen now, according to Pitino.
“I wanted to play with them for Louis’ 100th anniversary.” [birthday]. They immediately called the Big East office to protest,” Pitino said.
Instead, Pitino and the Johnnies might face Georgetown or Villanova on Carnesecca’s milestone birthday in Queens.
League officials told the Post that it was never a realistic option for St. John’s to play Connecticut there.
Big East policy states that if a school plays three or more home games in a public venue, the conference can choose where the most high-profile games are played.
The Garden, where St. John’s University has played eight games this year, clearly wanted the Connecticut game to be played in the building as well.
It is believed that one reason Pitino wanted to play the game on campus was to make adjustments to his college coach, Dan Hurley.
St. John’s and Pitino felt Hurley’s actions on the sideline during UW’s Dec. 23 win were inappropriate, officials said.
Another factor is that Huskies fans typically flood the Garden when the Huskies play St. John’s.
When asked if there was a rift between the coaches, Hurley said: I don’t think any of us are in it to be friends. ”
He did not directly address his relationship with Pitino.
Tomorrow’s game between the two schools at MSG is expected to be a sellout, with opinion expected to be evenly split among fans of both programs.
The last time St. John’s packed out a Big East game at the Garden was a win over Villanova on Feb. 17, 2019, in Chris Mullin’s final season as coach.
Connecticut could be without talented forward Alex Karaban.
The sophomore suffered a sprained ankle and a decision will be made during Saturday’s game, Hurley said.
The 6-foot-8 Karaban is averaging 14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range.
St. John’s University senior Joel Soriano has been named one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation’s best center.
The Johnny’s 1998-99 Elite Eight team, led by Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace), Eric Barkley and Bootsy Thornton, will be recognized at halftime of Saturday’s game.
The team held an alumni dinner with fans on Friday night.
