When @si_vault tweeted out the picture below of Pat Summitt yesterday in honor of her being named co-Sportsman of the Year, my first reaction was the same stunned silence I would expect most people to experience…followed by what I also assume is a normal series of questions:
- Where did she find that?
- Why didn’t anyone try to stop her?
- Why hasn’t she paid to have this photo destroyed?
Things like that.
Image Credit: @si_vault via Twitter
When that exercise in befuddled questioning concluded about 45 minutes later, I started thinking about the other poor fashion choices made by college coaches over the years, which led me to create the Elite Eight of Fashion Faux Pas.
8. Mock Turtlenecks
Yeah, I’m talking to you Mike Brey.
Image Credit: SI.com
To be fair, I’m not a fan of mock turtlenecks in any occupation, but come on; you’re a college coach who makes more than enough money to spring for an actual shirt and tie.
And if you’re going to “rock the mock,” at least have the common decency to stay away from color combinations like Brey is sporting above.
7. Gene Keady’s Combover
When you type “Gene Keady” into a Google image search, the first two options that come up are “Gene Keady hair” and “Gene Keady combover.” As you can see from this photo, Keady is still pulling this off (or should I say pulling this over) now that he’s at St. John’s.
Image credit: IdiotsOnSports.com
Very few things in college basketball, or sports in general, can claim this kind of longevity.
6. Team-Colored Jackets
Look, I get the desire to rep your school’s colors, but is it worth it at the expense of looking like you shopped the Lloyd Christmas line?
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that two of these guys aren’t coaching this season; and with Bruce Weber, the jacket isn’t even in the top five most annoying things about him.
As for Bruce Pearl, who would have guessed that a guy who looks to have borrowed his jacket from a used car salesman would turn out to be morally objectionable? Go figure.
5. Sweaters
Four words of advice if you want to get into coaching: Do not wear sweaters.
While Bob Knight’s sweater is iconic in Indiana lore, the times when he would roll it up over his stomach still stick in my mind. Throw in Rick Majerus (who I could have included in the mock turtleneck section as well) and “Cosby sweater” pioneer Lou Carnesecca, and this should be reason enough to shut down the sweater industry as a whole.
Since I am focusing on coaches here, I won’t comment on the Saint John’s uni in that photo, but feel free to try the home version of our game and create your own caption.
4. The many looks of Bob Huggins
Obviously the yellow suit is Huggs’ most egregious wardrobe foul, but it certainly wasn’t his only foray into fashion hell.
Image Credit: Chron.com via WSJ.com
Over the years, he’s also combined the mock turtleneck with a suit and vest while at K-State, and he has more recently gone to the far more casual windsuit look.
In the end, it looks like we’ll have to wait until his autobiography to find out what bet he lost that led to him donning this mustard-colored atrocity.
3. Hawaiian Shirts
I can’t heap all the blame on the coaches here, as to some extent the locale for the Maui Invitational lends itself to some touristy fashion transgressions. Even the announcers can succumb to this phenomenon.
Image Credit: ESPN on Google+
Still, this gives me a chance to show another picture of Rick Majerus, who has now managed to pull off three of these looks so far.
Image Credit: Hugging Harold Reynolds
2. Rick Pitino’s White Suit
This, along with the Fashion Police section of US Weekly, goes to show that even people widely regarded as competent dressers can fall victim to unfortunate wardrobe selections.
Image Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images via SI.com
Pitino’s foray into the Colonel Sanders collection was widely discussed, particularly when sweating/transparency issues necessitated a suit swap at halftime.
1. Tom Hodges
Seeing the Morehead State women’s coach atop this list might seem like a surprise, but after wearing suits from John Daly’s clothing sponsor LoudMouth Golf last season, he’s earned it.
Believe me, I was just as surprised as you probably are to know that Craig Sager isn’t somehow behind this, but let’s just let these fine ensembles speak — or should I say scream — for themselves.
Image Credit: NashvilleCityPaper.com
Image Credit: TheHoopDoctors.com
There are my Elite Eight fashion faux pas by college basketball coaches.
Are there are any I missed? Or any other notable examples of these eight you feel need to be shared?
Comment below.
**********
Follow me on Twitter (@andybottoms) for my non-fashion thoughts on college hoops, and check out the latest edition of the Bottoms Line podcast.
