Some thoughts on some of the names that have been thrown out:
Larry Brown? Not coming, not what we need, and not someone the school would hire. However if you are enthralled with the idea of hiring a septugenarian, then I would go for Bobby Knight. Or perhaps you would prefer to exhume Joe Lapchick?
Bruce Pearl? You think a program that was appalled by Jarvis misdemeanors and petty offenses and then spent years self-flagellating itself with Norm Roberts is going to hire a full-fledged NCAA felon (note, this is just by way of comparison, I'm not saying Pearl is actually guilty of any actual crimes).
PJ Carlessimo? He won't be coming back to college. Ditto for Lawrence Frank, Mike Dunlap, and Jeff Van Gundy. Also Pat Riley and Phil Jackson if you had them on your list.
Tommy Amaker? He's done well at Harvard, but he's also proved to be the very definition of mediocre at his jobs in upper-level leagues.
Steve Masiello? Let's go down the list of Manhattan coaches: Fran Fraschilla, check. Bobby Gonzalez, check. Yeah, I don't think St John's will be hiring a Manhattan guy (note that I have left off a pair of mediocrities in Brian Mahoney and Steve Lappas (a poor man's Steve Lavin, good recruiter but one of the worst game coaches I've ever seen).
Now Danny Hurley is a rational option, other than that the Hurleys have historically not been close to St. John's.
Going back to my initial list, if you don't the style Cluess plays, that's reasonable. Though really any "style" that is coherent and looks like basketball would be an improvement on the past decade or so of St John's basketball. However, to quibble over whether he's "a St. John's guy" is just silly. If that's your standard then Brian Mahoney should still be coaching the team. Cluess has local ties, he's well respected, he has a St John's history, he can recruit (or has at the level he's at), and he can coach. He's also smart enough to build a staff.
