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In recent years, the college basketball world has been forced into change.

Some of it comfortable, some of it not so much.

There鈥檚 been the expansion of the transfer portal and NIL affecting player recruiting and retention, not to mention the realities of football forcing radical conference realignment.

But maybe nothing is rocking the college basketball world quite like the debate about whether head coaches should return to the pre-COVID custom of wearing suits on the sideline or stick with the far more comfortable, and more uniform look of the entire coaching staff wearing polos or the more common quarter-zip pullover look during games.

The poster children on either side of the debate happen to be UNM Lobo men鈥檚 basketball coach, and casual attire proponent, Richard Pitino vs. his dad, Hall of Fame St. John鈥檚 basketball coach and high-priced suit aficionado Rick Pitino.

Wednesday morning, Richard Pitino went public with his crusade for the quarter zip.

鈥淯p early doing some research on this season,鈥� Richard Pitino posted early Wednesday morning on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter. 鈥淔ound it interesting that the coaches who have opted for suits haven鈥檛 won a game and the staffs that have adapted to the modern, more comfortable pants and quarter zips are in fact undefeated.鈥�

The younger Pitino is not one to let facts get in the way of making his point.

In fact, he recently was talking with Kimani Young, his good friend and Connecticut associate head coach, about the fashion topic that is all anyone in the industry is talking about.

鈥淚 said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e the problem,鈥� 鈥� Richard Pitino said. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楥oach, we won the national championship wearing suits.鈥� I said, 鈥楢lright. You may be the outlier.鈥� 鈥�

Richard Pitno said he does, in fact, keep tabs on the coaches still wearing suits in games 鈥� several from his father鈥檚 well-documented coaching tree. The vast majority of coaches, he insists, prefer to stick with the casual look taking over most every other sport, including the NBA.

鈥淚鈥檝e got a list of all the coaches that continue to try to ruin the fun for everybody,鈥� Richard Pitino said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like going to a Christmas party and everybody鈥檚 casual and there鈥檚 a guy wearing a tux and you鈥檙e looking at him like, 鈥榃hy the hell are you wearing a tux? You鈥檙e making us all look bad.鈥�

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what my dad and the (UConn coach) Danny Hurleys of the world, these guys 鈥� I have a lot of respect for them as coaches, but not a lot of respect for them in their attire.鈥�

Lest you think the debate is one-sided, Papa Pitino is already on record with his stance on his son鈥檚 clothing campaign.

In December 2022, Rick Pitino and his Iona Gaels made a Pit stop in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to play the Lobos in what was originally signed on to be a home-and-home series but also served as a convenient stop for the New York based team on its way to play a tournament in Hawaii, not to mention an easy excuse for Rick Pitino to see his grandkids around Christmas time.

While in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, the elder Pitino sang his son鈥檚 praises as a coach and his ability to do things his own way despite the shadow his name may cast.

鈥淗e feels comfortable. His family loves it here. Richard鈥檚 not into what a lot of coaches are (into),鈥� Rick Pitino said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never about money. It鈥檚 never about 鈥� you can tell by the way he dresses 鈥� it鈥檚 not about money.鈥�

Dads will be dads.

So, was the holiday mood and his son鈥檚 pro-casual pitch going to sway Rick Pitino into not suiting up for last season鈥檚 game in the Pit? As it turns out, maybe neither Pitino coach has a say in the matter.

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 want to wear a suit, to be perfectly honest, but my wife just harasses me about that,鈥� Rick Pitino said when the Journal probed into the pressing matter. 鈥淪he just won鈥檛 stop with that. And she鈥檚 getting her way. Now, I鈥檓 away from the tie if it鈥檚 an afternoon game. But Richard鈥檚 right. It is more comfortable in a zip.鈥�

Wednesday, after the shots-fired social media post putting the old school, suit-wearing college coaches of the world on notice, Richard Pitino said he received plenty of feedback.

鈥淪everal coaches texted me today from a lot of different programs, and told me thank you for championing the cause,鈥� Richard Pitino said. 鈥�... If the NBA can stick to the quarter zips, and they鈥檙e the pinnacle of our sport, I think that we should all do the same. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 getting to my dad, that鈥檚 for sure. But hopefully we can shame some other people to stop doing it. One tweet at a time.鈥�