Every school and professional team now has an alternate color. Look at the Mets, they have 6-7 different variations and color schemes throughout the season. Even the Lakers have added their Sunday white jerseys when playing at home. Unless you're an iconic team such as the Yanks or Giants, your team's marketing department and shoe company is going to look to add revenue with throwbacks, alternate jerseys, etc. If I were to guess, alternate's were in the language of the UA contract, further showcasing their brand while showing recruits new looks. Lavin ran with it, while Mullin has only used the alternate blue every now and then. I'm guessing there is a annual quota with UA.
What the St. John's marketing department can and needs to control is the signage. Carnesecca Court needs to be completely refurbished, and the school needs to rid itself of the block lettering that dominates the campus. The red and black block lettering from the Nike/Norm days simply doesn't match with the red, white, and blue old school UA font on mid/court and chest lettering of the current jersey respectively. It's looks terrible on TV, in person, you name it. Get a universal, consistent look and stick to it. Repainting the new court and ordering new stickers for the Garden can't be that expensive. Also, having 'Redstormsports.com' at each endline at the Garden is a terrible look. All of these are fixable issues that need to be addressed.