WIll St. John's ever be relevant again? — Mike Achilarre (@Achilarre)
Both of these sad fans use the word “ever.” Well, “ever” is a long time, but I think it’s fair to say that there is nothing to indicate this once-proud program is on the verge of a resurgence under second-year coach Chris Mullin. The Red Storm, which claimed just one Big East win last season, are now 5–6 with losses to Delaware State (at home, no less) and by one point at LIU Brooklyn last Sunday. The Johnnies host Penn State on Sunday and then on Wednesday play at Syracuse, which lost to the Red Storm in Madison Square Garden this time last year. Then Big East play begins, and we all know how strong that league is this season.
It may feel like St. John’s hasn’t been relevant since Mullin played there back in the early 1980s, but the Johnnies did make the NCAA tournament twice in the last five years. There was also that run to the Elite Eight in 1999 under Mike Jarvis. But that, of course, is a far cry from Mullin’s heyday. Obviously the program can and should be in much better shape than it is now, but the fact is, times have changed drastically since the school’s last Final Four appearance in 1985. Those days, I’m afraid, are long gone. Mullin may have walked through that door, but the younger version of himself is playing somewhere else.
What happened? Progress, change, time, evolution—all those things. When Lou Carnesecca roamed the sidelines, the college basketball world was much smaller. There were not that many programs that had access to great arenas like Madison Square Garden and regular national television exposure. Carnesecca had one of the greatest pipelines in the history of the sport from the Riverside Church basketball program, which was run by his good friend Ernie Lorch, straight to Queens. Best of all, because St. John’s did not have any on-campus dorms, Carnesecca was able to provide his players with a stipend to cover their cost of living expenses. Since St. John’s is located in a high-end neighborhood, that was a handsome sum. Players could live at home, commute to school, and pocket the cash. It was all legal.
As the sport expanded, more and more programs could offer players exposure and opportunities to compete. The Riverside Church program petered out, a demise that was accelerated when Lorch was forced to resign in 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse made by one of his former players. St. John’s, which still plays its on-campus games in Carnesecca Arena and many of its bigger games in Madison Square Garden, has been lapped several times over when it comes to facilities. The school built on-campus dorms, which brought the stipend racket to a halt. And most damaging of all, the national prep scene exploded, robbing New York City of its best young players. People can talk all they want about the need for St. John’s to recruit the best players from New York, but that is hard to do when the best players from New York are actually playing high school ball in Las Vegas, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and California. Those youngsters have come of age during an era when St. John’s has not been all that relevant. So it’s a vicious cycle.
Mullin is only in his second year, so it is not fair to blame him for the team’s struggles. He has one of the youngest rosters in the entire country; St. John’s is ranked 348th in experience on kenpom.com. Mullin did well to recruit a very good young player from Brooklyn in Shamorie Ponds, a 6' 1" combo guard who was voted the Big East’s preseason freshman of the year. Another Brooklyn native, 6' 7" junior forward Bashir Ahmed, transferred in from junior college. The leading scorer is Marcus LoVett, a redshirt freshman from Fort Wayne, Indiana. (He has also missed the last three games due to an ankle injury.) There is some international flavor featuring players from Italy, Mali and Germany. There was also a native of Spain, Yankuba Sima, but he just announced he is transferring.
I saw this team in person for three straight days at the Battle 4 Atlantis. These guys have some talent. The problem is they have no idea how to play winning basketball right now. St. John’s played three good teams that week—Michigan State, VCU and Old Dominion. In each case, they hung tough for a half, maybe 30 minutes. But when winning time arrived, the Johnnies were mentally worn out and overmatched. I expect that pattern will repeat itself during Big East season.
If there is one over-arching thought I have regarding this program’s situation, it is the need for Mullin to do a much better job exploiting the transfer market. This is far more important than recruiting high school players, because if you can have a steady diet of transfers in your program, it means you will never be really young. There are plenty of good mid-major players looking to move up each spring. I think it is in Mullin’s best interest to identify good players, bring them into his program, teach them and toughen them up while they sit for a year, and then let them build a winning culture.
The thing is, that takes a while. From my conversations with Mullin, I believe he is dedicated towards turning this thing around, but there are plenty of people out there who are wondering if he really is going to stick it out. And you can bet that’s what his recruits are hearing from rival coaches. The only thing we know for sure is that this program became elite by operating a certain way, but that was a long time ago. For St. John’s to become elite again, it has to adapt to the current environment, not try to live off the good ole days.
Both of these sad fans use the word “ever.” Well, “ever” is a long time, but I think it’s fair to say that there is nothing to indicate this once-proud program is on the verge of a resurgence under second-year coach Chris Mullin. The Red Storm, which claimed just one Big East win last season, are now 5–6 with losses to Delaware State (at home, no less) and by one point at LIU Brooklyn last Sunday. The Johnnies host Penn State on Sunday and then on Wednesday play at Syracuse, which lost to the Red Storm in Madison Square Garden this time last year. Then Big East play begins, and we all know how strong that league is this season.
It may feel like St. John’s hasn’t been relevant since Mullin played there back in the early 1980s, but the Johnnies did make the NCAA tournament twice in the last five years. There was also that run to the Elite Eight in 1999 under Mike Jarvis. But that, of course, is a far cry from Mullin’s heyday. Obviously the program can and should be in much better shape than it is now, but the fact is, times have changed drastically since the school’s last Final Four appearance in 1985. Those days, I’m afraid, are long gone. Mullin may have walked through that door, but the younger version of himself is playing somewhere else.
What happened? Progress, change, time, evolution—all those things. When Lou Carnesecca roamed the sidelines, the college basketball world was much smaller. There were not that many programs that had access to great arenas like Madison Square Garden and regular national television exposure. Carnesecca had one of the greatest pipelines in the history of the sport from the Riverside Church basketball program, which was run by his good friend Ernie Lorch, straight to Queens. Best of all, because St. John’s did not have any on-campus dorms, Carnesecca was able to provide his players with a stipend to cover their cost of living expenses. Since St. John’s is located in a high-end neighborhood, that was a handsome sum. Players could live at home, commute to school, and pocket the cash. It was all legal.
As the sport expanded, more and more programs could offer players exposure and opportunities to compete. The Riverside Church program petered out, a demise that was accelerated when Lorch was forced to resign in 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse made by one of his former players. St. John’s, which still plays its on-campus games in Carnesecca Arena and many of its bigger games in Madison Square Garden, has been lapped several times over when it comes to facilities. The school built on-campus dorms, which brought the stipend racket to a halt. And most damaging of all, the national prep scene exploded, robbing New York City of its best young players. People can talk all they want about the need for St. John’s to recruit the best players from New York, but that is hard to do when the best players from New York are actually playing high school ball in Las Vegas, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and California. Those youngsters have come of age during an era when St. John’s has not been all that relevant. So it’s a vicious cycle.
Mullin is only in his second year, so it is not fair to blame him for the team’s struggles. He has one of the youngest rosters in the entire country; St. John’s is ranked 348th in experience on kenpom.com. Mullin did well to recruit a very good young player from Brooklyn in Shamorie Ponds, a 6' 1" combo guard who was voted the Big East’s preseason freshman of the year. Another Brooklyn native, 6' 7" junior forward Bashir Ahmed, transferred in from junior college. The leading scorer is Marcus LoVett, a redshirt freshman from Fort Wayne, Indiana. (He has also missed the last three games due to an ankle injury.) There is some international flavor featuring players from Italy, Mali and Germany. There was also a native of Spain, Yankuba Sima, but he just announced he is transferring.
I saw this team in person for three straight days at the Battle 4 Atlantis. These guys have some talent. The problem is they have no idea how to play winning basketball right now. St. John’s played three good teams that week—Michigan State, VCU and Old Dominion. In each case, they hung tough for a half, maybe 30 minutes. But when winning time arrived, the Johnnies were mentally worn out and overmatched. I expect that pattern will repeat itself during Big East season.
If there is one over-arching thought I have regarding this program’s situation, it is the need for Mullin to do a much better job exploiting the transfer market. This is far more important than recruiting high school players, because if you can have a steady diet of transfers in your program, it means you will never be really young. There are plenty of good mid-major players looking to move up each spring. I think it is in Mullin’s best interest to identify good players, bring them into his program, teach them and toughen them up while they sit for a year, and then let them build a winning culture.
The thing is, that takes a while. From my conversations with Mullin, I believe he is dedicated towards turning this thing around, but there are plenty of people out there who are wondering if he really is going to stick it out. And you can bet that’s what his recruits are hearing from rival coaches. The only thing we know for sure is that this program became elite by operating a certain way, but that was a long time ago. For St. John’s to become elite again, it has to adapt to the current environment, not try to live off the good ole days.
