After more than one year of deliberation, Rick Pitino will finally face his former player and the school he called Camelot this December in Atlanta
In his introductory press conference last April, newest Kentucky head coach Mark Pope planted the seed for a highly-anticipated non-conference game against his former mentor Rick Pitino and the St. John’s Red Storm. Pitino acknowledged the proposition on social media, but neither party could agree on a home-and-home series, and a planned contest was very much in limbo until recently.
First reported by Dave Berov of the Eye of the Storm Podcast, St. John’s is replacing UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic and will face Kentucky on Saturday, December 20 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The other matchup at the doubleheader will be North Carolina versus Ohio State, who have competed in the event since its debut in 2014.
Earlier on Thursday, both St. John’s and Kentucky men’s basketball social media accounts officially announced the matchup by posting a video featuring Pitino and Pope on a FaceTime call.
FaceTime with @RealPitino and The Captain @CoachMarkPope on the 2025 CBS Sports Classic matchup
Shoutout to @CBSSportsCBB for making it happen‼️ pic.twitter.com/PwWtje5w3f
— St. John’s Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) May 1, 2025
Both teams could enter December’s game as top-ten-ranked teams. Kentucky brings back leading scorer and second-team All-SEC guard Otega Oweh but is also adding top-30 freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, plus transfers such as All-ACC guard Jaland Lowe from Pittsburgh, former five-star center Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State and National Champion-winning guard Denzel Aberdeen from Florida.
St. John’s and Kentucky first played each other on December 30, 1943, with the Wildcats holding an 11-5 record against the Red Storm. The Red Storm last faced Kentucky on December 1, 2011, when they lost in an 81-59 blowout to Anthony Davis and the first-ranked Wildcats at Rupp Arena.
The doubleheader will be broadcast on CBS, and tip-off times will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale in August and can be purchased at cbssportsclassic.com/tickets.