Quick Lavin Story

[GardenCity62]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

 

[beast of the east]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

Before you give Gempeshaw too much credit for hiring Mullin, Bobby was under the impression that hiring Chris alone would generate $3 million in alumni donations before the first practice. Who also believed that? The general counsel and interim AD of the university. When the donations didn't pour in, the AD continues to be slashed to less than 50% of employees when Bobby G. arrived and salaries frozen as well. So, before you give Bobby G. credit, also be aware that he has no clue of how a big time athletic program works, and instead delegated the role of AD on a PT basis to an attorney who doesn't have the resume for the job.

 

[paultzman]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

Before you give Gempeshaw too much credit for hiring Mullin, Bobby was under the impression that hiring Chris alone would generate $3 million in alumni donations before the first practice. Who also believed that? The general counsel and interim AD of the university. When the donations didn't pour in, the AD continues to be slashed to less than 50% of employees when Bobby G. arrived and salaries frozen as well. So, before you give Bobby G. credit, also be aware that he has no clue of how a big time athletic program works, and instead delegated the role of AD on a PT basis to an attorney who doesn't have the resume for the job.

AD void will be addressed I sense. Badly needed as you referenced.

 

[beast of the east]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

Before you give Gempeshaw too much credit for hiring Mullin, Bobby was under the impression that hiring Chris alone would generate $3 million in alumni donations before the first practice. Who also believed that? The general counsel and interim AD of the university. When the donations didn't pour in, the AD continues to be slashed to less than 50% of employees when Bobby G. arrived and salaries frozen as well. So, before you give Bobby G. credit, also be aware that he has no clue of how a big time athletic program works, and instead delegated the role of AD on a PT basis to an attorney who doesn't have the resume for the job.

AD void will be addressed I sense. Badly needed as you referenced.

I hope you have some information that leads you to believe this and not just logic. It's one thing for a new university president not to know everything, and yet another not to surround himself with talent that does.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

I have no lingering feeling either way about Lavin. However, I don't connect the change in hiring philosophy to Lavin. He was the by-product of it, not the cause of it. One lesson the decision makers should have learned is that throwing more money at the problem doesn't necessarily correlate to a solution to the problem. Lavin and staff were paid well, but they achieved limited success on the court, and left behind far less than they started with.

Just look at what became of every coach since Looie's retirement. Add up the w/l record of every coach from Mahoney on, and look at their career trajectory after SJU. It's truly depressing. I sometimes look at the hiring of Mullin as the program's final Hail Mary. I fully expect this to work, but cringe at the thought of what happens from here if it doesn't.

 

[monte]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

I have no lingering feeling either way about Lavin. However, I don't connect the change in hiring philosophy to Lavin. He was the by-product of it, not the cause of it. One lesson the decision makers should have learned is that throwing more money at the problem doesn't necessarily correlate to a solution to the problem. Lavin and staff were paid well, but they achieved limited success on the court, and left behind far less than they started with.

Just look at what became of every coach since Looie's retirement. Add up the w/l record of every coach from Mahoney on, and look at their career trajectory after SJU. It's truly depressing. I sometimes look at the hiring of Mullin as the program's final Hail Mary. I fully expect this to work, but cringe at the thought of what happens from here if it doesn't.

Eventually we've got to make the right coaching hire. Law of averages. Hoping Chris is the one, but even if he's not he's still going to be light years ahead of the last 2 guys we had here IMO. Jarvis was a disaster at the end, but he still gets kudos in my book for getting us to within one Erick Barkley turnover(or one missed foul call) of the final 4. Our last team of any real significance.

 

[TRabinowitz]

One thing Lavin was always good at doing was dinner.

 

[paultzman]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

Before you give Gempeshaw too much credit for hiring Mullin, Bobby was under the impression that hiring Chris alone would generate $3 million in alumni donations before the first practice. Who also believed that? The general counsel and interim AD of the university. When the donations didn't pour in, the AD continues to be slashed to less than 50% of employees when Bobby G. arrived and salaries frozen as well. So, before you give Bobby G. credit, also be aware that he has no clue of how a big time athletic program works, and instead delegated the role of AD on a PT basis to an attorney who doesn't have the resume for the job.

AD void will be addressed I sense. Badly needed as you referenced.

I hope you have some information that leads you to believe this and not just logic. It's one thing for a new university president not to know everything, and yet another not to surround himself with talent that does.

I'm not a logician.

 

[austour]

One thing Lavin was always good at doing was dinner.

Don't knock it Theo, it's a valuable skill.

 

[JohnnyFan]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

 

[mjmaherjr]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

How was taking a couple of former players who have no shot at playing in the nba and kids who worked for him and their families to dinner posittioning himself for his next job ? I don't care about people not thinking he was a good coach or thinking he got lazy but the other stuff he gets blamed for is mind boggling.

I'm pretty sure there are posters who think he kidnapped the lindbergh baby

 

[monte]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

How was taking a couple of former players who have no shot at playing in the nba and kids who worked for him and their families to dinner posittioning himself for his next job ? I don't care about people not thinking he was a good coach or thinking he got lazy but the other stuff he gets blamed for is mind boggling.

I'm pretty sure there are posters who think he kidnapped the lindbergh baby

And there are yet others who think he is on the verge of curing cancer. The fact is there are varying opinions on the guy, and anyone who claims to know who the real Lavin is, and what motivates him, are fooling only themselves.

 

[bamafan]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

How was taking a couple of former players who have no shot at playing in the nba and kids who worked for him and their families to dinner posittioning himself for his next job ? I don't care about people not thinking he was a good coach or thinking he got lazy but the other stuff he gets blamed for is mind boggling.

I'm pretty sure there are posters who think he kidnapped the lindbergh baby

He was involved but was not acting alone.

 

[Jack Williams]

"Please don't turn this to a bash thread"

-mjmaherjr

 

[Chris7]

Love him or hate him we can credit Lavin for being the hire that changed the philosophy at SJU from feeling that because of its' tradition, its' NYC location and having MSG as its' home court SJU could be successful without hiring and paying a big name coach.
From when Frank McGuire left and SJU was a top 5 program to Norm Roberts some 50 years later SJU hired assistants for forty years and then tried a couple of mid major coaches. Without Lavin it is hard to believe SJU would have opened its' pocketbook for Mullin.
What is the difference between what Norm and his staff were paid to that of Mullins? The current president deserves credit for spending the money and realizing that the landscape of college has been changing since 1952.

Before you give Gempeshaw too much credit for hiring Mullin, Bobby was under the impression that hiring Chris alone would generate $3 million in alumni donations before the first practice. Who also believed that? The general counsel and interim AD of the university. When the donations didn't pour in, the AD continues to be slashed to less than 50% of employees when Bobby G. arrived and salaries frozen as well. So, before you give Bobby G. credit, also be aware that he has no clue of how a big time athletic program works, and instead delegated the role of AD on a PT basis to an attorney who doesn't have the resume for the job.

+1,000,000. The fact that we don't have a real AD by this point is LAUGHABLE. The fact that there is no search committee or outside search firm hired, also, LAUGHABLE. Too many optimists. The current temporary guy in the role is a nice guy, but certainly not qualified and certainly in over his head. Ineptness still runs rampant here.

 

[Chris7]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

I feel sorry for you. You may need some help. Plenty of psychiatrists and psychologists in the tri-state area.

This was a simple kind gesture, for the love of God.

 

[MJDinkins]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

I feel sorry for you. You may need some help. Plenty of psychiatrists and psychologists in the tri-state area.

This was a simple kind gesture, for the love of God.

+1

Ha! A long time coming.

 

[JohnnyFan]

It sure was nice of Slick Steve to spend some of that stolen money on CJ and Felix. He certainly owes Felix more than dinner.

Before being fired, this guy completely stopped working and collected millions (literally). Of course, like a dunce, I kept buying tickets while he was a no-show at nearly every major high school game/tournament. That was my hard earned money and he'll get no praise from me.

Make no mistake, Lavin is a politician. He is positioning himself for his next job. He never misses a chance to attach himself to, or claim credit for, those who graduated. The guy is no fool.

Sorry, I gave up the Kool Aid long ago. It made me sick!

How was taking a couple of former players who have no shot at playing in the nba and kids who worked for him and their families to dinner posittioning himself for his next job ? I don't care about people not thinking he was a good coach or thinking he got lazy but the other stuff he gets blamed for is mind boggling.

I'm pretty sure there are posters who think he kidnapped the lindbergh baby

First of all, I need to give you credit for the Lindbergh baby comment. That was good.

If you are asking how I think this works toward positioning himself for his next job, just read the thread. He has further endeared himself to a certain segment of the fan base. Lavin remembers the venom that UCLA fans held onto, and he remembers the speed with which they pounced on the St. John's hire. He would like to avoid that in the future. Don't worry, he posted pictures of the dinner on Instagram. To me, he is a politician.

Hopefully CJ and Felix had a nice steak.

 

[oldfan61]

The President G. made the decision to hire Chris and Chris et al are well within the ongoing budget. No one is wearing rose glasses; it's a good and popular business decision.

 

[beast of the east]

It is a slippery slope when we begin to question the apparently good and charitable things people do, especially those things that get recognition. AA members live by certain life principles, one of which is "Don' t take somebody ekse's inventory". Certainly that principle is much easier said than done,especially when we factor in such biased notion as like and dislike.