Anderson - is he really the guy ?

[nycfan]

Interesting story regarding Jordan - i was dropping off my son at Roslyn JCC and I was telling him how I read (on redmen.com of course) that Rysheed Jordan was released from jail.  A guy overhead us and asked what happened.

Told him the story and he said he himself played at St John's under Lavin and he knew Rysheed.  He was Khadim Ndiaye and he was a basketball trainer @ Roslyn JCC.  He also played overseas in China and kept in touch with Jamal Branch.  He played @ CTK as well in high school.   Like they say it is a small world.





 

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

Interesting story regarding Jordan - i was dropping off my son at Roslyn JCC and I was telling him how I read (on redmen.com of course) that Rysheed Jordan was released from jail.  A guy overhead us and asked what happened.

Told him the story and he said he himself played at St John's under Lavin and he knew Rysheed.  He was Khadim Ndiaye and he was a basketball trainer @ Roslyn JCC.  He also played overseas in China and kept in touch with Jamal Branch.  He played @ CTK as well in high school.   Like they say it is a small world.






 

Did he speak favorably of Lavin?

 

[beast of the east]

I still will never understand the Lavin not on campus thing ( not you beast people told you that from the school ). Was he on campus as much as CMA ? I highly doubt it but my friends brother in law was the team manager and he would pick Lavin up in the city and drive him to campus and he was there. Arbitello used to say Lavin never went to CTK but that wasn’t true. I know who drove him there. I think Panther had even mentioned he saw Lavin at CTK. Water under the bridge but I think certain people whether in the school or Arbitello had an agenda 

 

I went to CTK on more than one occasion with Coach Lavin. Arbitello was being dishonest and fed negative stories to Zach. During Lavin's tenure, CTK did not produce any players who had successful college careers in a high major conference. Omar Calhoun was supposed to be that guy, but flamed out at UCONN.

Just my opinion, we would have been better off extending Lavin for two more years. Obekpa and Jordan would probably have returned. He also had decent recruits coming in. In January of Lavin's last year, some representatives of St johns were already making overtures to Mullin. This was an ass backwards way of doing thins and it definitely set the program back. I was in LA when I heard what was going on. You can bet that other schools and recruits heard that knew that the administration was looking to fire Lavin.

As for Obekpa and marijuana, there are  68 teams that qualify and if each team has 15 players, for a total of 1,020 players. I just can't see how out of 1,020 college basketball players, Obekpa was the only one who tested positive for marijuana. Just a lil something to think about.


 

Panther,  I spent a lot of time at CTK and I always felt like I should wash my hands when I left there.   The adults involved in that program all felt like they were something special, when in reality not so much.   So not surprised with your comments at all.

Now from what I remember about Jordan and Obekpa after Lavin left is the following: Jordan had planned on leaving SJU after his sophomore year and as the season wound down was hopelessly behind in all of his classes.   When Mullin was hired, he changed his mind, was excited about coming back, but had done so little schoolwork (none) that he would have been academically ineligible.    Obekpa, as you remember, had his run ins with Lavin, once refusing to go into a BET game vs. Providence because Lavin sat him most of the 1st half with 2 fouls (it may have been 3).   He met with Mullin upon his hiring, and from my recollection wasn't crazy about how Mullin laid down the law and decided this program wasn't for him.   I will say though that despite infractions under Lavin, the two really liked each other and you are right that he likely would have come back.

I was in favor of Lavin getting extended and hoping he'd pull some recruiting rabbits out of the hat.

 

[Alumni Hall]

I still will never understand the Lavin not on campus thing ( not you beast people told you that from the school ). Was he on campus as much as CMA ? I highly doubt it but my friends brother in law was the team manager and he would pick Lavin up in the city and drive him to campus and he was there. Arbitello used to say Lavin never went to CTK but that wasn’t true. I know who drove him there. I think Panther had even mentioned he saw Lavin at CTK. Water under the bridge but I think certain people whether in the school or Arbitello had an agenda 

 

I went to CTK on more than one occasion with Coach Lavin. Arbitello was being dishonest and fed negative stories to Zach. During Lavin's tenure, CTK did not produce any players who had successful college careers in a high major conference. Omar Calhoun was supposed to be that guy, but flamed out at UCONN.

Just my opinion, we would have been better off extending Lavin for two more years. Obekpa and Jordan would probably have returned. He also had decent recruits coming in. In January of Lavin's last year, some representatives of St johns were already making overtures to Mullin. This was an ass backwards way of doing thins and it definitely set the program back. I was in LA when I heard what was going on. You can bet that other schools and recruits heard that knew that the administration was looking to fire Lavin.

As for Obekpa and marijuana, there are  68 teams that qualify and if each team has 15 players, for a total of 1,020 players. I just can't see how out of 1,020 college basketball players, Obekpa was the only one who tested positive for marijuana. Just a lil something to think about.

I also heard the rumors of Mullin returning to SJU as coach before the season was over. And Lav and his staff also heard from their west coast sources the same info that Mullin was returning. As for Obekpa Panther 2, his transgressions were not NCAA related drug tests but Institutional as was clearly reported in all the local papers prior to the Tournament. During that time period, all athletes in all sports that qualified for post season underwent a school drug test. The University rules at the time were that any athlete in any sport who tests positive for any banned substance, was not allowed to travel to NCAA post season, because if they were tested again days later at the Site and came up positive again, they were deemed ineligible with loss of  eligibility for 1 year by the NCAA. So would SJU roll the dice send a positive athlete to a site only to also come up positive and lose a year? The University's admin decided not to take that chance and lose any athletes in any sport for 1 year. That University rule is no longer in effect. 
The NCAA sites and dates of testing were/are always a secret. Not all sites are tested and not all rounds are tested.  And all the many times SJU hosted NCAA events either on campus or at Nassau or MSG, even the SJU staff did not know if testing would take place until the NCAA testing crew arrived at the arena.

 

 

[beast of the east]

I still will never understand the Lavin not on campus thing ( not you beast people told you that from the school ). Was he on campus as much as CMA ? I highly doubt it but my friends brother in law was the team manager and he would pick Lavin up in the city and drive him to campus and he was there. Arbitello used to say Lavin never went to CTK but that wasn’t true. I know who drove him there. I think Panther had even mentioned he saw Lavin at CTK. Water under the bridge but I think certain people whether in the school or Arbitello had an agenda 


 

I went to CTK on more than one occasion with Coach Lavin. Arbitello was being dishonest and fed negative stories to Zach. During Lavin's tenure, CTK did not produce any players who had successful college careers in a high major conference. Omar Calhoun was supposed to be that guy, but flamed out at UCONN.

Just my opinion, we would have been better off extending Lavin for two more years. Obekpa and Jordan would probably have returned. He also had decent recruits coming in. In January of Lavin's last year, some representatives of St johns were already making overtures to Mullin. This was an ass backwards way of doing thins and it definitely set the program back. I was in LA when I heard what was going on. You can bet that other schools and recruits heard that knew that the administration was looking to fire Lavin.

As for Obekpa and marijuana, there are  68 teams that qualify and if each team has 15 players, for a total of 1,020 players. I just can't see how out of 1,020 college basketball players, Obekpa was the only one who tested positive for marijuana. Just a lil something to think about.

I also heard the rumors of Mullin returning to SJU as coach before the season was over. And Lav and his staff also heard from their west coast sources the same info that Mullin was returning. As for Obekpa Panther 2, his transgressions were not NCAA related drug tests but Institutional as was clearly reported in all the local papers prior to the Tournament. During that time period, all athletes in all sports that qualified for post season underwent a school drug test. The University rules at the time were that any athlete in any sport who tests positive for any banned substance, was not allowed to travel to NCAA post season, because if they were tested again days later at the Site and came up positive again, they were deemed ineligible with loss of  eligibility for 1 year by the NCAA. So would SJU roll the dice send a positive athlete to a site only to also come up positive and lose a year? The University's admin decided not to take that chance and lose any athletes in any sport for 1 year. That University rule is no longer in effect. 
The NCAA sites and dates of testing were/are always a secret. Not all sites are tested and not all rounds are tested.  And all the many times SJU hosted NCAA events either on campus or at Nassau or MSG, even the SJU staff did not know if testing would take place until the NCAA testing crew arrived at the arena.


 

Just my opinion, but I believe the rumors were stoked when they finally got Mullin to return for the Athletic HOF induction, which I attended.   I think that is where the idea was born, and the rumors may well have had some legs, and maybe even where there is smoke, type of thing.  I wouldn't have been shocked if more than one person asked Mullin, "If this job were to open up, might you be interested?"    But I also know that much later than that some decision makers were on the fence about Lavin, and I mean on the fence.   

Great information on the Obekba ban.  Well done, and makes a ton of sense.

 

[panther2]

I still will never understand the Lavin not on campus thing ( not you beast people told you that from the school ). Was he on campus as much as CMA ? I highly doubt it but my friends brother in law was the team manager and he would pick Lavin up in the city and drive him to campus and he was there. Arbitello used to say Lavin never went to CTK but that wasn’t true. I know who drove him there. I think Panther had even mentioned he saw Lavin at CTK. Water under the bridge but I think certain people whether in the school or Arbitello had an agenda 


 

I went to CTK on more than one occasion with Coach Lavin. Arbitello was being dishonest and fed negative stories to Zach. During Lavin's tenure, CTK did not produce any players who had successful college careers in a high major conference. Omar Calhoun was supposed to be that guy, but flamed out at UCONN.

Just my opinion, we would have been better off extending Lavin for two more years. Obekpa and Jordan would probably have returned. He also had decent recruits coming in. In January of Lavin's last year, some representatives of St johns were already making overtures to Mullin. This was an ass backwards way of doing thins and it definitely set the program back. I was in LA when I heard what was going on. You can bet that other schools and recruits heard that knew that the administration was looking to fire Lavin.

As for Obekpa and marijuana, there are  68 teams that qualify and if each team has 15 players, for a total of 1,020 players. I just can't see how out of 1,020 college basketball players, Obekpa was the only one who tested positive for marijuana. Just a lil something to think about.

I also heard the rumors of Mullin returning to SJU as coach before the season was over. And Lav and his staff also heard from their west coast sources the same info that Mullin was returning. As for Obekpa Panther 2, his transgressions were not NCAA related drug tests but Institutional as was clearly reported in all the local papers prior to the Tournament. During that time period, all athletes in all sports that qualified for post season underwent a school drug test. The University rules at the time were that any athlete in any sport who tests positive for any banned substance, was not allowed to travel to NCAA post season, because if they were tested again days later at the Site and came up positive again, they were deemed ineligible with loss of  eligibility for 1 year by the NCAA. So would SJU roll the dice send a positive athlete to a site only to also come up positive and lose a year? The University's admin decided not to take that chance and lose any athletes in any sport for 1 year. That University rule is no longer in effect. 
The NCAA sites and dates of testing were/are always a secret. Not all sites are tested and not all rounds are tested.  And all the many times SJU hosted NCAA events either on campus or at Nassau or MSG, even the SJU staff did not know if testing would take place until the NCAA testing crew arrived at the arena.


 

Do you honestly believe that Chris Obekpa was the only player on that team that ssmoked marijuana???

 

[NCJohnnie]

Panther2 wrote:

Do you honestly believe that Chris Obekpa was the only player on that team that ssmoked marijuana???

Panther, have huge respect for your insight. Are you saying Opekba was targeted for some reason? Seems to me that testing positive might have just been a matter of bad timing but I'm no expert for sure.   

 

[Alumni Hall]

No, many athletes and students in general smoke, But he was the only one who failed the NCAA pre tourney test and was prohibited from travel. All athletes in all sports get in writing the rules and are informed that they are subject to pre NCAA testing. The team was told 7-10 days before the test by Coach Lavin. Don’t forget, the test is set up like a speed radar test. It goes after the ones that are driving well over the limit. The NCAA has a set minimum limit, the test is not set up with a zero threshold.  If you ask the NCAA and research their drug testing rules, they will not publish what their levels are. But the generally accepted level is around 100-150 ng to become positive. So if your a habitual and chronic smoker you will be positive. But as times change, and weed has been decriminalized in many states, as well as the introduction of CBD has thrown a wrench in the NCAA testing program. They still do complete panel drug testing looking at hundreds of banned substances and athletic enhancement products.

as a sidebar, years ago when football bowl teams suddenly had players suspended and not travel to bowl games, it was for the same reason. All the major football programs test their players multiple times a year and especially after their conference championships. They did not want their players to get bagged for a year either. That’s where SJU got the idea as other Big East schools were also doing it. Football schools never gave a reason for players being left off the travel roster, leaving it open for discussion whether it was academic, injuries, or disciplinary reasons. Usually they just stated broke school rules.

 

[room112]

If it's true that there were whispers of Mullin being courted for coach while Lavin was still in charge, that's despicable. Especially because they were sloppy enough to let Lavin find out about it. Just goes to show how much of a joke those in charge of the basketball program had been for well over a decade. Extra credit to Lavin for never holding that against the school. A very good man. 

 

[Knight]

Didn’t Obekpa have a fight in the shower with another player?

 

[mjmaherjr]

Didn’t Obekpa have a fight in the shower with another player?

With delarosa

 

[Alumni Hall]

Didn’t Obekpa have a fight in the shower with another player?Obekpa was jumped in the shower area by both DeLa Rosa brothers in retaliation to on on court scuffle in practice. His was tipped off by Balamou who understood Spanish and he was ready for them. That was Mullin’s first week as coach and he tossed both brothers out of the program. 

 

[RedStormNC]

AJ Hidell rocks...

 

[mjmaherjr]

Didn’t Obekpa have a fight in the shower with another player?Obekpa was jumped in the shower area by both DeLa Rosa brothers in retaliation to on on court scuffle in practice. His was tipped off by Balamou who understood Spanish and he was ready for them. That was Mullin’s first week as coach and he tossed both brothers out of the program. 

Ironically there was video of the the court scuffle as they happened to be video  taping 

 

[beast of the east]

Didn’t Obekpa have a fight in the shower with another player?Obekpa was jumped in the shower area by both DeLa Rosa brothers in retaliation to on on court scuffle in practice. His was tipped off by Balamou who understood Spanish and he was ready for them. That was Mullin’s first week as coach and he tossed both brothers out of the program. 

Wait. Obekpa never played for Mullin. Please explain?

 

[RedStormNC]

Beast - mullin was hired in late March and Obekpa left in late June.

So, he was under Mullin's watch in off season stuff.  This is why Lavin should not get blamed for Obekpa not staying on and Mullin shouldn't get the pass of only 3 guys (Balamou, Amar & Jones)

 

[nycfan]

Beast - mullin was hired in late March and Obekpa left in late June.

So, he was under Mullin's watch in off season stuff.  This is why Lavin should not get blamed for Obekpa not staying on and Mullin shouldn't get the pass of only 3 guys (Balamou, Amar & Jones)

Flashback time:
https://nypost.com/2015/06/24/chris-obekpa-quits-st-johns-again-due-to-mullins-strict-regime/

 

[mjmaherjr]

Beast - mullin was hired in late March and Obekpa left in late June.

So, he was under Mullin's watch in off season stuff.  This is why Lavin should not get blamed for Obekpa not staying on and Mullin shouldn't get the pass of only 3 guys (Balamou, Amar & Jones)

You are on the money it happened April of 2015 when Lavin was gone and Mullin was the coach. 100% certain it happened when Mullin was coach. 

 

[beast of the east]

Beast - mullin was hired in late March and Obekpa left in late June.

So, he was under Mullin's watch in off season stuff.  This is why Lavin should not get blamed for Obekpa not staying on and Mullin shouldn't get the pass of only 3 guys (Balamou, Amar & Jones)

Flashback time:
https://nypost.com/2015/06/24/chris-obekpa-quits-st-johns-again-due-to-mullins-strict-regime/

So this was my recollection which I explained above.

Re-read my earlier post.  I said it was about obekpa not wanting to play for Mullin and his rules.  I said Jordan decided he wasnt coming back under Lavin but was too far behind in school to make up work once Mullin was hired.

 

[RedmanMike]

Not sure how this turned into a Lavin/Mullin thread, but here's my two cents - which I said at the time.

Lavin had three 20-win seasons - two with his own players.  I expect that his last two teams, which won 20 and 21 games (I believe) is where we would have been with him most years.  The most talented of those two teams missed the Dance, a huge underperformance in my opinion.  Lavin was a good face of the program, good with the media, and on the whole he recruited well (although he took some chances at the end).  Had he been extended, it would not have been the worst decision.

Let's say most years with Lavin would have been around 20 to 22 wins, on the bubble, make the Dance a fair amount and never be a factor.  Is that terrible? Say a 21-11 record most years and around .500 in the Big East and we're seeded between 8-10.  We rarely win a game in the Dance.

Let's be fair - that's not terrible.  We'd probably all take that kind of record for this season the way things look right now.

But it's not great either. I think the St. John's powers that be felt that they could do better.  They obviously felt that bringing back Chris Mullin, the Crown Prince of St. John's basketball, could spark a renaissance and get us where we want to go.

I'll admit that I was excited to have Mullin come back as coach.  I'm a total Mullin fanboy - since I was playing HS hoops on Long Island while Mullin was at St. John's.  He was the man, pure and simple.

It didn't work out for him at St. John's - for a number of reasons which have been well documented.

In my opinion, we now have a coach who is far better than both Lavin and Mullin - so things probably ended up working up the way they should have.