Louisville Basketball Vs St. John's, Rick Pitino A No-go In 2025-26, Josh Heird Says

Rick Pitino said it was possible at the Final Four, but Louisville basketball won't be playing St. John's as part of its nonconference schedule in Year 2 of the Pat Kelsey era.

That's per U of L athletics director Josh Heird, who made a Friday morning radio appearance on ESPN Louisville with Drew Deener and Mark Blankenbaker.

"Pat wants to play that game; I want to play that game," Heird said. "It didn't make sense for us to play that game this year."

Speaking with reporters last month in San Antonio, after accepting a share of The Associated Press' Coach of the Year Award, Pitino said the Red Storm was "negotiating with Louisville to bring them in very early in the season" for a game at Madison Square Garden.

"After they signed the backcourt that they just signed, I'm thinking of canceling that proposal," he joked. "They're looking at their schedule to see if they could do it."

That would have been the first leg of a home-and-home series, setting up a return to the KFC Yum! Center for Pitino in 2026-27. The Hall of Famer hasn't played against U of L since he was "effectively fired" in 2017 amid an FBI investigation into an alleged pay-for-play scandal (he was exonerated in 2022).

Although there'll be no game between the Cardinals and their former coach this year, Heird said Friday he and Kelsey are "are motivated to try to get something done there."

"We're going to keep trying to figure it out," he said. "We had conversations last year; we reached out last year, and they said, 'No, it doesn't fit into our schedule.' They reached out this year, and it doesn't fit into our schedule.

"I'm hopeful that we can find a chance to play a home-and-home there. I think our fans would love it. Obviously, I think their fans would love it. I think it's just a great opportunity for what looks to be two programs on the rise that are going to be really good for years to come."

As of Friday, Louisville had confirmed three games on its 2025-26 nonconference schedule:

• Nov. 11: vs. Kentucky
• Dec. 13: vs. Memphis
• Dec. 16:at Tennessee

U of L has reportedly agreed to play cross-state rival Indiana on Dec. 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball schedule 2025-26: UofL vs St. John's a no-go