Is St John's A Sleeping Giant?

We have been saying this for years. I get that NYC just doesn't have the monopoly of talent that we once had. However, I have a very hard time believing that a good coach can't get 5 kids from New York or wherever they come from as long as they want to play under the big lights. But we seem to be snakebit by poor decisions (Norm Roberts, Brian Mahoney, The Jarvae) and questionable recruiting (Elijah Ingram, Ricky Torres, Malik Boothe etc) that have doomed us. Hopefully its about to change but Lavin has to get this team to be more disciplined or we are in for another long year ahead.
 
We have been saying this for years. I get that NYC just doesn't have the monopoly of talent that we once had. However, I have a very hard time believing that a good coach can't get 5 kids from New York or wherever they come from as long as they want to play under the big lights. But we seem to be snakebit by poor decisions (Norm Roberts, Brian Mahoney, The Jarvae) and questionable recruiting (Elijah Ingram, Ricky Torres, Malik Boothe etc) that have doomed us. Hopefully its about to change but Lavin has to get this team to be more disciplined or we are in for another long year ahead.
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I dont know why there is this criticism of Malik Boothe- Boothe was a great defensive player and guard. He wasnt the best shooter although he did do very well in his senior year. But then again which of our recruits have been great shooters? Not many. If you want to criticize a recruit try the other Malik- Malik Stith
 
We have been saying this for years. I get that NYC just doesn't have the monopoly of talent that we once had. However, I have a very hard time believing that a good coach can't get 5 kids from New York or wherever they come from as long as they want to play under the big lights. But we seem to be snakebit by poor decisions (Norm Roberts, Brian Mahoney, The Jarvae) and questionable recruiting (Elijah Ingram, Ricky Torres, Malik Boothe etc) that have doomed us. Hopefully its about to change but Lavin has to get this team to be more disciplined or we are in for another long year ahead.
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I dont know why there is this criticism of Malik Boothe- Boothe was a great defensive player and guard. He wasnt the best shooter although he did do very well in his senior year. But then again which of our recruits have been great shooters? Not many. If you want to criticize a recruit try the other Malik- Malik Stith
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Boothe was not very good at all. This is really not a discussion on Boothe or his talent. He is just an example (amongst many others) where it didn't quite work out for us. We have missed more often than we have hit in the last several years. On that there is no dispute.
 
We have been saying this for years. I get that NYC just doesn't have the monopoly of talent that we once had. However, I have a very hard time believing that a good coach can't get 5 kids from New York or wherever they come from as long as they want to play under the big lights. But we seem to be snakebit by poor decisions (Norm Roberts, Brian Mahoney, The Jarvae) and questionable recruiting (Elijah Ingram, Ricky Torres, Malik Boothe etc) that have doomed us. Hopefully its about to change but Lavin has to get this team to be more disciplined or we are in for another long year ahead.
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Local schools haven't had a monopoly on NYC talent since Frank McGuire left St. John's to coach UNC back in the early 50s, recruiting heavily in the NYC area. He did win an NCAA championship in 1957 with NYC kids, going 32-0 and defeating Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in the NCAA finals. He did get fired for NCAA volations amidst the point shaving scandal in 1961. Just a bit of history.

The point is that SJU hasn't dominated NYC talent for 60 years, if ever. We did get our share of local talent, though.

I don't agree with those who think next season is going to produce a radical improvement. I do think that the 2014-2015 team will have high expectation to make the NCAA tournament, and perhaps go a few rounds in.
 
NYC is the city that never sleeps. Just because SJU and the Mets are asleep it doesn't mean that this isn't an ideal location to play. SJU doesn't have to recruit NYC kids to succeed but it would be nice. That won't happen consistently until we win regularly. In the meanwhile we have an advantage nationally that should make us a preferred destination. Having nobody signed going forward just amazes me. Our #3 recruiting class just seemed to evaporate along with the buzz it created. Here's hoping a couple of Harkless types show up soon to turn the ebbing tide. Next year may be a bit better but it's hinging on things like DLo returning, Sampson staying and Sanchez amazing. Pretty precarious and not encouraging in the long run.
 
The buzz is out of our program Coach better get it back fast. or we will be bringing in a replacement We pay to much money to not get us to the dance
 
The buzz is out of our program Coach better get it back fast. or we will be bringing in a replacement We pay to much money to not get us to the dance
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I didn't realize we pay Coach Steve anything. If anyone on this board thinks we should be discussing his performance in relation to compensation, it probably should have a separate thread. Me, I don't know what he makes, and never gave it a thought. I would like to see the program start winning on a regular basis.
 
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