There is some truth to the idea that St. John's believed that they needed "one of their own". That obviously wasn't the reason Fran was fired and I don't think that's what he was trying to convey either. The hiring of one of St. John's own is about Mullin, so the comment is appropriate and true.
I spent several hours with Coach Carnesecca at an NCAA tournament event the year Jarvis was fired. We discussed the coaching situation and Coach very clearly stated, " to bring the program back we need one of our own. We haven't had that for a while now". Coach was very influential in the search and that attitude has been the prevailing thought for a long time. This time it seems likely to work out. However, back then there wasn't any " one of our own" except for John Kresse. Now there is Mullen, Jackson and Wennington. We all know why Fran was fired, but that attitude was way too much in the administration's minds when they got offended by him talking to other schools after a couple year's of success. It's a very parochial attitude. Instead, most schools with sought after coaches give their guy an extension and a raise if other schools inquire about their availability.
As for Jarvis, nobody thinks he's a bigger fraud than me, but facilities have been a challenge in the past. Jarvis knew when he took the job that it would be a challenge, but he's got the dorm vs. apartment off campus thing backwards. I spoke to Bob Hurley at another NCAA event a couple years later and I asked him about getting the program back on the right track. He said, in part it's facilities. When Bobby was looking at schools they considered St John's, but they didn't believe he could handle living off campus in an apartment well. So, the lack of dorms was a problem for them. There are always challenges and Mullin will face his own as well.
