Rick Pitino will make Yum Center return on Jan. 2

Rick Pitino is set to return to the KFC Yum Center for the first time since his departure from the University of Louisville in 2017.

Pitino confirmed his return in an interview with college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on Friday. He is expected to attend the Jan. 2, 2027, Louisville game against Stanford, when the university will honor the late Kenny Klein, the longtime Louisville basketball Sports Information Director who passed away earlier this year.

“I’m going back this year,” Pitino said, explaining that he wanted to be there to support Klein’s wife, Donna, and celebrate Klein’s legacy at Louisville.

Klein worked in Louisville’s athletic department from 1983 to 2022 and spent 16 seasons alongside Pitino during the coach’s tenure from 2001 to 2017. He later joined Pitino at St. John’s as a special adviser for the past two seasons.

Whether or not the Cards face St. John’s at the Players Era Festival on Thanksgiving Day, there’s going to be some healing … or at least some interaction.