Rick Pitino to Return to Louisville for First Time Since Firing to Honor Kenny Klein

Rick Pitino is scheduled to return to Louisville for the first time since his dismissal ahead of the 2017-18 season. The St. John's coach will be in attendance on January 2 when the ACC school unveils a banner honoring the late Kenny Klein at the KFC Yum! Center, prior to St. John's playing Butler the following day.

Klein, who served as Louisville's sports information director for many years and recently worked at St. John's, passed away on June 25 at the age of 66. His banner will be placed among the retired numbers in the arena's rafters.

Pitino spoke about Klein's impact, stating, "Kenny was the No. 1 sports information guy who ran the Final Four for the media for 30-plus years. Did the Kentucky Derby media, did the Ryder Cup media and in just a two-year span, [at St. John’s] made a tremendous change on everything that’s happening here."

St. John's has been honoring Klein throughout the current season by keeping the seat next to Pitino at the scorer's table empty and by wearing black bands on their jerseys inscribed with the letters "K.K."

In the 2024-25 season, Louisville honored the 2005 Final Four team coached by Pitino. He did not attend that event, but a video message from him was shown. During his 16 seasons with the Cardinals, Pitino led the team to a national championship and three Final Four appearances.

Pitino addressed his departure from Louisville, saying, "I was fired from [Louisville] but like I’ve said many, many times, what went on, I deserved to be fired. The people that fired me and did it the wrong way are all gone now. The board of directors are all gone, replaced by the right people. The chairman of the board, Larry Benz, is a friend of mine and he personally apologized to me just three months ago in person for the way I was treated. It’s all forgotten, it’s all forgiven."

There is a possibility that St. John's and Louisville could meet in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. If both teams advance past their opening-round games, they would play on Thanksgiving Day.

Pitino expressed his continued connection to his former team, stating, "I hope they do great in every single game but one."

In other recruiting news, St. John's is hosting top 20 prospect Malachi Jordan from Prolific Prep (Nev.) this weekend. Pitino indicated that the Red Storm might add up to three high school prospects for the upcoming season, a shift from their usual recruiting focus on older players.