Lavin Hard on the Recruiting Trail

M

MJDinkins

Well-known member
Per FiveStarBasketball....

NEW YORK -- For the second year in a row, Steve Lavin and St. John's are conducting perhaps the most unique recruiting search of any Division 1 basketball program in the nation.

A year ago, Lavin inherited a club with 10 seniors and had the unenviable burden of trying to fill nearly an entire roster with new players.

Lavin and his staff hit the road and landed a nine-man recruiting class ranked among the Top 3 nationally, but three recruits -- JaKarr Sampson, Norvel Pelle and Amir Garrett -- were ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA in September. (Garrett has since qualified and joined the team.)


Lavin may not return to coaching until the 2012-13 season as he recovers from prostate cancer surgery in October. Yet he is still out recruiting, operating in a self-described "general manager role," and seeks to sign five or six more players in the spring period.

"It’s clear I’m going to come back [as head coach at St. John's],” he told SNY during a recent interview. “I’ll be back at some point.”

http://fivestarbasketball.com/commi...stacles-lavin-hitting-recruiting-trail-hard-1 
 
If Lavin is indeed hard this soon after prostrate surgery then we can probably expect to see him back behind the bench before too long.
 
 "It’s clear I’m going to come back [as head coach at St. John's],” he told SNY during a recent interview. “I’ll be back at some point.”

Important to say at a time like this when monotonous failures breed wild rumors.
 
If Lavin is indeed hard this soon after prostrate surgery then we can probably expect to see him back behind the bench before too long.
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Honestly, it wouldn't shock me to see him return at some point next month.  
 
 Dick Vitale @DickieV 26m Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Steve Lavin just told me NO DOUBT that he plans on coaching next year.Excited about recruiting- feels he will have a banner yr . Feels good!

Per boo3 on JJ.
 
 good to hear. i am sick and tired of hearing of these rumors that he is leaving the program even though he is still recruiting.
 
 I think Lav returns 2/18 for the UCLA game...not because it is UCLA, but because it marks a three game home stretch with some winnable games, and there will be only be five games remaining. 3-2 is possible for that stretch. It would also be three weeks of work until the end of the Big East Tournament and would give the kids a huge morale boost as well as prove to the 2012 targets that Lav is fine.
 
There were rumors last night about Lavin at the pregame recption. Some even went on to infer that the cancer was worse than thought and that he was never coming back. Where do people come up with this stuff? Billy Schaffer quelled the rumors with an official announcment that Steve will be back just as soon as he can. Healing is an individual thing. It took my wife over 3 years to recover from her chemo. Also, coaching, Lavin style, is almost as physically demanding as playing. Time heals all wounds. 
 
The response to the question is coach coming back? Was welcome indeed, particularly when stated by the COACH
himself, and a lot of other sources including Dickie V. I want for him to be in the best shape possible when he returns. Not a second earlier. We can take a few bumps and bruises as long as he is returning. 
 
 Agree that we can live with getting crushed if Lav comes back. No question he can bring this program to compete at a high level. It's just tough now...
 
There were rumors last night about Lavin at the pregame recption. Some even went on to infer that the cancer was worse than thought and that he was never coming back. Where do people come up with this stuff? Billy Schaffer quelled the rumors with an official announcment that Steve will be back just as soon as he can. Healing is an individual thing. It took my wife over 3 years to recover from her chemo. Also, coaching, Lavin style, is almost as physically demanding as playing. Time heals all wounds. 
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I am close friends with someone that is a friend & business associate with a certain head men's basketball coach in the Big East. My friend speaks to the head coach 2 or 3 times each day. When I asked my friend whether Lavin was coming back to coach at St.john's he said that he was surprised by my question; he said that his business associate (the head coach) had not said anything about Lav returning which he believed would have been mentioned if it were true. My friend then said that few understood the energy spent by a coach during a basketball game.

I believe that Lavin intends on returning as head coach at St. John's. If he doesn't return as St.john's head men's basketball coach then that will mean that Coach Lavin's health problems don't allow which I will regret on 2 levels: his and St. John's.

In Lavin I trust.
 
There were rumors last night about Lavin at the pregame recption. Some even went on to infer that the cancer was worse than thought and that he was never coming back. Where do people come up with this stuff? Billy Schaffer quelled the rumors with an official announcment that Steve will be back just as soon as he can. Healing is an individual thing. It took my wife over 3 years to recover from her chemo. Also, coaching, Lavin style, is almost as physically demanding as playing. Time heals all wounds. 
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I am close friends with someone that is a friend & business associate with a certain head men's basketball coach in the Big East. My friend speaks to the head coach 2 or 3 times each day. When I asked my friend whether Lavin was coming back to coach at St.john's he said that he was surprised by my question; he said that his business associate (the head coach) had not said anything about Lav returning which he believed would have been mentioned if it were true. My friend then said that few understood the energy spent by a coach during a basketball game.

I believe that Lavin intends on returning as head coach at St. John's. If he doesn't return as St.john's head men's basketball coach then that will mean that Coach Lavin's health problems don't allow which I will regret on 2 levels: his and St. John's.

In Lavin I trust.
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I appreciate your info otis but im sort of confused by what you wrote. Can't tell whether or not your friend thinks Lavin is coming back or not. Thanks
 
Amaseinyourface - -

What I attempted to say was that my friend believes that the coach he is pals with would have told him if he (the coach) believed that Lav iwas not returning. My friend also said that coching in the BEast is a physical experience and he thought that the physical demand of the position was a legitimate reasons to delay Lavin's return.
 
 Understood Otis! Gotta be great having that kind of connection
 
I think we just have to assume that Lavin wont be back until next season.  
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And I'm fine with that if it means a 100% healthy Lavin returns next year, rather than a 50% healthy Lavin this year. His health is paramount and if it means he needs to stay off the bench the rest of the year, then he should.
 
I think we just have to assume that Lavin wont be back until next season.  
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And I'm fine with that if it means a 100% healthy Lavin returns next year, rather than a 50% healthy Lavin this year. His health is paramount and if it means he needs to stay off the bench the rest of the year, then he should.
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I agree.

The question though is this: Does he need to get back to the bench this season to convince Gathers, Sampson, etc al. to sign with STJ?

Or will his GM role be enough to convince them to come here?
 
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