There is a very nice article in today's NYTimes, reading it I am getting to like Keady more and more...... great quotes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/s...-team-while-recuperating.html?_r=1&ref=sports
Recuperating St. John’s Coach Stays Connected
By MIKE OGLE
As a pregame video played above center court at Carnesecca Arena on Monday night, the members of the St. John’s men’s basketball team twisted their necks and gawked. For all but one of them, it was their first Division I basketball game. They needed somewhere to turn.
Along the baseline, students held cutout letters spelling out “Lavinwood.” But Coach Steve Lavin was not there to deliver one of his patented motivational sayings. And the players had left their cellphones in the locker room.
So Lavin, preparing to watch the ESPNU broadcast from his loft in SoHo while recuperating from prostate cancer surgery on Oct. 6, had lost his connection to his team.
Of course, that did not stop Lavin, 47, from sending text messages to the television broadcaster Bob Wischusen. Lavin’s phone rests only when he sleeps.
While Lavin had been away from the program until he attended his first practice Tuesday and there is no timetable for when he will return for a game, he has remained in continual contact with his staff and players.
Lavin has gone through a half-dozen or so iPhones in his 19 months as the coach, a university spokesman estimated, not because he always wanted the most up-to-date model, but because he wore them out.
“He does a great job of reaching out to the kids,” the assistant Tony Chiles said. “Coach Lavin develops such a personal relationship with everyone he’s involved with.”
As soon as the players and coaches had their cellphones on again, after winning their opener against William & Mary, 74-59, the text messages started pouring in with encouragement and suggestions on how to prepare for their second game, against Lehigh on Wednesday night. Chiles exchanged text messages with Lavin for 45 minutes afterward.
“Once he gets started and gets that energy of his going, it could be 20 or 30 in a row he’ll send,” said Chiles, who took a recruit on an official visit to meet Lavin at a coffee shop near Lavin’s home a couple of weeks ago.
The assistants are just as eager to keep Lavin apprised of what is going on. They have a team manager drive into Manhattan and drop off DVDs of practices and games. Lavin has been so involved that sometimes it is hard for the coaches to tell he is recovering from cancer surgery.
“First I always ask how he’s feeling,” said the assistant Rico Hines, who tore his right Achilles’ tendon recently while scrimmaging with the team. “I care about that more than anything else. But he starts talking about recruiting, and once he gets going, the conversation can go 20 minutes before he answers how he’s feeling.”
The coaches say Lavin’s spirits are high, as they typically are. They remind him to listen to his doctors, to get the rest he needs and to not return to full-time coaching before he should.
“I’m definitely feeling closer to full strength, and eager for a return to the sidelines,” Lavin said through a team spokesman. “I’ve been pleased with the progress made by our young team.”
Gene Keady, Lavin’s 75-year-old special assistant, does not send many text messages. But he calls Lavin almost every day.
“Sometimes when I call, he doesn’t answer,” Keady said. “I don’t blame him. He’s got enough people trying to call him.” For his part, Keady does not reply to Lavin’s texts. But he reads what Lavin has to say.
The assistant Mike Dunlap, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience, has taken on more of a leadership role, though for the most part, each assistant’s duties have remained the same.
“He’s very friendly and he’s very funny,” forward God’sgift Achiuwa said of Dunlap at last week’s team media day. During Monday’s game, Dunlap looked the part of a typical head coach, with his arms folded and a stern look on his face.
He remained calm when the Red Storm trailed at halftime.
“I really have to hand it to him,” Keady said. “He did a tremendous job with his halftime talk and he didn’t yell or anything. Unlike I would have.”
Keady displayed some postgame levity of his own. Twice he played the Harlem Globetrotters’ theme song, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” on his cellphone as his young players met with reporters after the game. Perhaps he will be able to return one of Lavin’s text messages soon enough.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/s...-team-while-recuperating.html?_r=1&ref=sports
Recuperating St. John’s Coach Stays Connected
By MIKE OGLE
As a pregame video played above center court at Carnesecca Arena on Monday night, the members of the St. John’s men’s basketball team twisted their necks and gawked. For all but one of them, it was their first Division I basketball game. They needed somewhere to turn.
Along the baseline, students held cutout letters spelling out “Lavinwood.” But Coach Steve Lavin was not there to deliver one of his patented motivational sayings. And the players had left their cellphones in the locker room.
So Lavin, preparing to watch the ESPNU broadcast from his loft in SoHo while recuperating from prostate cancer surgery on Oct. 6, had lost his connection to his team.
Of course, that did not stop Lavin, 47, from sending text messages to the television broadcaster Bob Wischusen. Lavin’s phone rests only when he sleeps.
While Lavin had been away from the program until he attended his first practice Tuesday and there is no timetable for when he will return for a game, he has remained in continual contact with his staff and players.
Lavin has gone through a half-dozen or so iPhones in his 19 months as the coach, a university spokesman estimated, not because he always wanted the most up-to-date model, but because he wore them out.
“He does a great job of reaching out to the kids,” the assistant Tony Chiles said. “Coach Lavin develops such a personal relationship with everyone he’s involved with.”
As soon as the players and coaches had their cellphones on again, after winning their opener against William & Mary, 74-59, the text messages started pouring in with encouragement and suggestions on how to prepare for their second game, against Lehigh on Wednesday night. Chiles exchanged text messages with Lavin for 45 minutes afterward.
“Once he gets started and gets that energy of his going, it could be 20 or 30 in a row he’ll send,” said Chiles, who took a recruit on an official visit to meet Lavin at a coffee shop near Lavin’s home a couple of weeks ago.
The assistants are just as eager to keep Lavin apprised of what is going on. They have a team manager drive into Manhattan and drop off DVDs of practices and games. Lavin has been so involved that sometimes it is hard for the coaches to tell he is recovering from cancer surgery.
“First I always ask how he’s feeling,” said the assistant Rico Hines, who tore his right Achilles’ tendon recently while scrimmaging with the team. “I care about that more than anything else. But he starts talking about recruiting, and once he gets going, the conversation can go 20 minutes before he answers how he’s feeling.”
The coaches say Lavin’s spirits are high, as they typically are. They remind him to listen to his doctors, to get the rest he needs and to not return to full-time coaching before he should.
“I’m definitely feeling closer to full strength, and eager for a return to the sidelines,” Lavin said through a team spokesman. “I’ve been pleased with the progress made by our young team.”
Gene Keady, Lavin’s 75-year-old special assistant, does not send many text messages. But he calls Lavin almost every day.
“Sometimes when I call, he doesn’t answer,” Keady said. “I don’t blame him. He’s got enough people trying to call him.” For his part, Keady does not reply to Lavin’s texts. But he reads what Lavin has to say.
The assistant Mike Dunlap, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience, has taken on more of a leadership role, though for the most part, each assistant’s duties have remained the same.
“He’s very friendly and he’s very funny,” forward God’sgift Achiuwa said of Dunlap at last week’s team media day. During Monday’s game, Dunlap looked the part of a typical head coach, with his arms folded and a stern look on his face.
He remained calm when the Red Storm trailed at halftime.
“I really have to hand it to him,” Keady said. “He did a tremendous job with his halftime talk and he didn’t yell or anything. Unlike I would have.”
Keady displayed some postgame levity of his own. Twice he played the Harlem Globetrotters’ theme song, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” on his cellphone as his young players met with reporters after the game. Perhaps he will be able to return one of Lavin’s text messages soon enough.