Yetna is interestingly "another" lefty. I was not too Impressed with him as he didn't play like a "big". Seemed more like a developmental kid. That's ok if we can find another more polished big man that can play right away. That video does not suggest he is ready for BE play.
2017 Transfers
- Thread starter DaTiger
- Start date
At this stage we need both. Diffinately need a competent ,exp, big for next year. But, also have to build for the future.Not a transfer, but St John's has offered 2017 @PSAhoops big man Alex Yetna, per Corey Evans
Too bad his last name isn't Yenta
If it was he could become a moderator on this board.
In the video he looked like a possible glue guy that could get much bigger.
Don't think SJU needs more glue guys. Need to get difference makers on the roster.
It looks like he averaged or nearly averaged a double-double at Putnam Science which was a top 10 prep team. Had 30 pts and 22 rebs one game. Was also 1st team all league. Putnam science is a school that is always loaded with D1 talent. Jeff Borzello at espn called him "a double-double machine" and that it was a "shame" he wasn't in the top 100. I don't know how it will translate to college but he averaged double digit points and rebounds from what it seems. He can't be that bad. He's definitely not a center, but as a PF that can rebound... we can use that. Also helpful that he's a freshman and can develop here.
To fill that post-man type role, I'd imagine grad transfer would be the way we address that.
Class of 72
Active member
Why are so many fans here using Mullin's first year as a cop out excuse for the future of the basketball program at St. John's?
I wasn't a big Lavin fan but he revived a moribund program left by Storming Norman Roberts. In the four years he coached he took St. John's to the post season. The two years prior to Mullin we finished 3rd and 5th in the conference. The situation we are in is mostly the doing of St. John's. There is ZERO excuse in years 3 and 4 to pursue less than 4 star players and not projects. We were all on board the recruiting train fast track when Mullin hired Slice and Matt. Why anyone should settle for the local train instead of the express train is beyond me. Matt had already made plenty of player contacts at Iowa state. Mullin and Richmond are supposed to Hall of Fame names meant to attract players. Lavin, who had been out of coaching for six years, was able to put us on the fast track. I expect no less from this staff. If recruiters can get players to visit Spokane, Columbia SC, Storrs, Cincinnati, Syracuse (no offense Otis), we should be able to target quality players to come to the Big Apple.
Here is the so-called down program before Mullin:
2100–11 St. John's 21–12 12–6 T - 3rd NCAA Round of 64
*
2012–13 St. John's 17–14 ** 8–8 ** 11th NIT Second Round
2013–14 St. John's 20–13 10–8 T–3rd NIT First Round
2014–15 St. John's 21−12 10−8 5th NCAA Round of 64
redfanUpooooooo
Active member
Canisius G Kassius Robertson (RS JR) is leaving the program. Will graduate & is eligible immediately.
How many players did CM inherit from the 2014-2015 team?
How many players did SL inherit from the 2009-2010 team?
After SL's first real recruiting class that included Harkless and Harrison (I'll give him a pass when he took over the team as he had a pretty stocked roster in terms of available Scholarships and brought in Polee)? Sampson and Obekpa then Jordan.
CM was way behind what SL inherited, just saying.
Great list. Probably out of reach for us but includes Jonathan Williams from Gonzaga, Jonathan Motley from Baylor, both studs playing at the highest level. Also includes very capable other bigs from Baylor, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Florida, Wichita State among others who played big minutes, have size and scored and rebounded well. If we landed two of these guys we could remake our front line and along with Clark and Owens and our excellent backcourt could be in great shape next year. The guys on my wish list after Williams and Motley of course, are:
Trevor Thompson, Ohio St; Lual Acuil, Baylor; Kyle Washington, Cincinnati; John Egbunu, Florida; Shaquille Morris Wichita State; Marin Maric, Northern Illinois; and Junior Etou, Tulsa. Any two would be just awesome!
RedStormRising
Well-known member
I know that everyone hates Lavin on this board for, well, reasons I guess, but the fact is we've made the tournament 2 times in 15 years and both were under Lavin.
Plus, I don't care how bare your cabinet is when you take over as coach, 1 big east win is unacceptable. To give you an example of how futile that performance is Kevin Clark also got 1 Big East win.
Here is Kevin Clark's cabinet when he got the win
Showtime Daryll Hill (as a freshman)
Tyler Jones
Andre Stanley
Kyle Cuff
Curtis Johnson
Those were his players on scholarship. But, don't worry he had Phil Missere as instant offense off the bench (in reality CuJo was probably the guy that came off the bench vs Gtown, I don't remember).
The point is no excuses. It's year three, Mullin has to make the NIT and have prospects on the NCAA the following year, if not we are looking at Brian Mahoney, a nice story, a true Johnny, but not a head coach.
Plus, I don't care how bare your cabinet is when you take over as coach, 1 big east win is unacceptable. To give you an example of how futile that performance is Kevin Clark also got 1 Big East win.
Here is Kevin Clark's cabinet when he got the win
Showtime Daryll Hill (as a freshman)
Tyler Jones
Andre Stanley
Kyle Cuff
Curtis Johnson
Those were his players on scholarship. But, don't worry he had Phil Missere as instant offense off the bench (in reality CuJo was probably the guy that came off the bench vs Gtown, I don't remember).
The point is no excuses. It's year three, Mullin has to make the NIT and have prospects on the NCAA the following year, if not we are looking at Brian Mahoney, a nice story, a true Johnny, but not a head coach.
To further your point, Stanley was actually a walk-on as well but he earned a scholarship which I totally respect. However I would point out one huge difference and that being that those guys were seniors with the exception of Jones and they had played together for a long time. Are we gonna argue who left the program in worse shape Jarvi or Lavin? Notwithstanding Keita and Pittsburgh the Jarvis regime was disastrous but the cupboard was truly gone in the wake of Lavin. Lavin did some good things, Jarvis did some good things. But in the end both screwed us over.
Regardless, no doubt about it, the team needs to produce this season to show real progress.
Class of 72
Active member
We will forever be discussing what ifs when it comes to Steve Lavin.
What if he had not suffered cancer?
What if some players had stayed like Sampson, Obekpa and Jordan.
Would we still have signed Brandon Sampson or Samir Doughty? Would we have had a chance with Ponds?
What if Lavin worked a little bit harder recruiting?
What if Rico Hines was replaced by a real assistant?
What if the A D weren't such a dick?
Fast forward......are we going to start asking similar questions but with a different cast because shit always happens at St. John's like the Slice drama and resultant effects, the Matt drama and hopefully positive effects, the Mullin learning curve, etc.
WE ARE...
But you were the one who brought up Lavin ??????
To the majority of the board we have moved on. Why did you bring him up ????
Sorry but many a coach has had prostate cancer and has continued to coach a while later and certainly continued to recruit.
But Sampson , Jordan and Obekps didn't stay they left , why should we discuss them, that is college ball.
Who cares about Samir Doughty , he was ineligible his freshman season , he couldn't have helped us last year.
And why did Lavin stop recruiting his last 2 years ????
Do you have the answer , I certainly don't. I know he didn't stop going to fancy restaurants.
And why didn't he replace Rico who was very busy but not recruiting.
And what does the former dick AD have to do with this ????
Class of 72
Active member
With all due respect North, Steve Lavin will be, and is, part of St. John's basketball history. The post by Logen specifically said "Building a program that was down is tough, building a program from an empty cupboard even more so.[/quote]".
My response was within that context.
The majority of this board has not moved on because some here will continue to point to Lavin's final year as an excuse for Chris Mullin winning ONE Big East game in a 10 team conference.
As lazy as Lavin was recruiting locally, he came within an under-the-table Kentucky style signing. Had he sealed the the deal with Briscoe we may not be having these discussions right now. Had he dismissed Jordan and straightened out Obekpa we may not be having these discussions.
I said it then and I'll say it again, getting recruits early is the way successful programs stay relevant. Lavin never did that. If this staff suffers the same fate with a few highly touted local players at the expense of the greater national pool of talent, they will suffer the same fate.
As for the previous AD, he was a useless POS who provided zero support to the basketball staff both in good times and bad. Tanning and chasing after female coaches took too much of his time. A real D1 AD would have had discussions with Lavin after year three about the direction of the program. They barely spoke to one another.
Hope this clarifies things a bit.
Class of 72
Active member
Lavin's late recruiting struggles were never ignored by me. I regularly criticized him for signing players very late in the recruiting cycles. I also said that if he failed to sign top talent like Briscoe and Lovett he would be fired. The self-destruction of Rasheed Jordan and Chris Obekpa were major contributors to Lavin's downfall. The sloppy recruitment of Keith Thomas, a promising 6'8 forward, led to his downfall.
You can make all the BS excuses you want for Mullin and keep focusing on the ONE NCAA game Lavin coached his own players but woe is YOU then if Mullin cannot duplicate that with HIS players next year. At least Lavin took his kids to 2 NIT's prior to his final year. Some here will be estatic to make the NIT next year.
Talk about low expectations!
Do you blame Lavin for St. John's losing to LIU this year also? The same Incarnate Word team that beat them this year beat us last year. Do you think two straight losing seasons is still Lavin's legacy or maybe some shitty coaching?
Don't answer....it is a loaded question,
