Rick Pitino wears a replica jersey in honor of legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca

A week after Lou Carnesecca’s death, Rick Pitino found the perfect way to honor the legendary St. John’s men’s basketball coach.

Pitino had his tailor make a replica of the iconic jersey Carnesecca wore as a good luck charm during St. John’s 1985 Final Four season.

As he stepped onto the floor for St. John’s 88-71 victory over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon, a smiling Pitino opened his sports jacket to display the custom jersey fans at Carnesecca Arena. The crowd loved the tribute, as did St. John’s fans on social media.

The flashy red, blue and brown ‘V’ jersey 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 over No. 1 Georgetown.

When Georgetown came to 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 tipoff, when he revealed he was wearing a replica of Carnesecca’s jersey underneath.

Patrick Ewing and Georgetown routed Chris Mullin and St. John’s 85-69 that day. Since then it has been known as ‘the jersey game’.

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

Carnesecca’s death came just a month before what would have been his 100th birthday. Saturday’s St. John’s game was the first on the schedule since Carnesecca’s death.

St. John’s players paid tribute to Carnesecca with a special jersey patch that resembled his famous jersey and warm-ups bearing his name.

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

Earlier this week, Pitino described Carnesecca as “an iconic Saint John.”

“His coaching expertise was as good as anyone else’s in basketball,” Pitino said, “but the man he was exceeded that. Rest in peace, Looie. We will miss you so much.”