St. John's has hired ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin to replace Norm Roberts, a school spokesman said Tuesday.
Lavin has been with ESPN the past six years after being fired at UCLA in 2003. He coached the Bruins to the NCAA tournament six times in seven seasons, including one Elite Eight appearance and five trips to the Sweet 16. He inherits a team that could return 10 seniors for 2010-11.
The school will hold a news conference to introduce Lavin on Wednesday.
St. John's has been searching for a big-name hire to increase the team's profile in the New York media market. The university made an offer to Florida's Billy Donovan and a formal offer to Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, who both declined.
The Red Storm also interviewed former Boston College coach Al Skinner and former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, who took the Iowa job, and were interested in talking to Rhode Island's Jim Baron.
St. John's hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. The Red Storm has appeared in the NIT twice since that appearance, including earlier this month under Roberts.
This season, St. John's finished 17-16 overall and 6-12 in the Big East. After knocking off UConn and nearly upsetting Marquette in the Big East tournament, the Red Storm lost in the first round of the NIT at Memphis. Hopefully a big name like Lavin can take a team like St. Johns back to prominence where they belong. One thing that Lavin needs to do is establish relationships with the NYC high school coaches because that is something that Norm Roberts could never do. Last year when he did not sign local talent Lance Stephenson from Lincoln High School that was basically the last straw for the University. Hopefully Lavin can do a better coaching job then Roberts did at St. Johns.
Lavin has been with ESPN the past six years after being fired at UCLA in 2003. He coached the Bruins to the NCAA tournament six times in seven seasons, including one Elite Eight appearance and five trips to the Sweet 16. He inherits a team that could return 10 seniors for 2010-11.
The school will hold a news conference to introduce Lavin on Wednesday.
St. John's has been searching for a big-name hire to increase the team's profile in the New York media market. The university made an offer to Florida's Billy Donovan and a formal offer to Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, who both declined.
The Red Storm also interviewed former Boston College coach Al Skinner and former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, who took the Iowa job, and were interested in talking to Rhode Island's Jim Baron.
St. John's hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. The Red Storm has appeared in the NIT twice since that appearance, including earlier this month under Roberts.
This season, St. John's finished 17-16 overall and 6-12 in the Big East. After knocking off UConn and nearly upsetting Marquette in the Big East tournament, the Red Storm lost in the first round of the NIT at Memphis. Hopefully a big name like Lavin can take a team like St. Johns back to prominence where they belong. One thing that Lavin needs to do is establish relationships with the NYC high school coaches because that is something that Norm Roberts could never do. Last year when he did not sign local talent Lance Stephenson from Lincoln High School that was basically the last straw for the University. Hopefully Lavin can do a better coaching job then Roberts did at St. Johns.
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