My hatred for UConn basketball and Jim Calhoun is probably almost equal to my love of St. John's hoops. I suppose it is because I get this sick feeling of Deja Vu that whenever they do well it seems to coincide with some ominous and strange vibe going on with our program.
It was harmless enough in the beginning, UConn's presence in the Big East as a perennial also ran was a regular thing in the early days of the Conference. Back in the early to mid eighties they played the part of the outclassed opponent to Louie's powerful teams that were composed of great New York City talent. Our teams regularly made appearances in the NCAA Tournament year after year. They were the annual soft part of our conference schedule.. However in 1986 (the year after the great Chris Mullin Walter Berry Mark Jackson team made our last run to the final four) Dom Perno left and Jim Calhoun came in. Soon after that UConn was no longer a doormat.
In the Nineties everything began to shift Louie left and St. John's regular tourney appearances stopped. Uconn became a regular tournament participant while we sat at home. Finally in 1999 Mike Jarvis with some great recruits from Fran Fraschilla had a team that was going to put St. John's back on top. Instead Ken Johnson and Ohio State blocked our run to the final four. I then had to watch in horror as UConn led by Rip Hamilton and Kalid El-Amin upset Duke and won their first national championship.
We moved in to the next century and five years after UConn's title our program had hit rock bottom. Mike Jarvis had destroyed the once proud St. John's Hoop tradition with a unique blend of arrogance and neglect. The scandal at Pittsburgh left us with no scholarship players and an Interim coach and a group of hard trying undermanned walk-ons. We wound up at 6-21 Meanwhile back in Storrs, Emeka Okafor was dominating inside while Ben Gordon (a player Mike Jarvis passed on for Willie Shaw) was raining threes. UConn had its second national title and cemented their reputation as a true national power. On the other hand St. John's had the coming of the Norm Roberts era to look forward to.
Fast Forward another seven years later and again we are on the road back! Norm Roberts had finally left after a six year tenure of mediocrity and now West Coast Steve Lavin was coaching up Norm's players with style and panache. Eleven Days after the Red Storm blew out a number three ranked Duke team in the Garden, number ten UConn came in to the Garden for a February 10th showdown. St. John's led by the stellar play of guard Dwight Hardy ran the Huskies out of the building leaving the outclassed UConn team, including star guard Kemba Walker, gasping for oxygen. They are done I proclaim!! A month later DJ Kennedy blows out his knee and that same Kemba Walker takes UConn on a wild and insanely improbable ride through both the Big East Tournament and then through the NCAA tournament. Somehow,someway Calhoun and UConn win a third national championship. How can this be I ask? Has this guy sold his soul to the devil?
Moving forward the scales are fortunately tipping back. It appears that the good guys are on the rise again and the bad guys are finally getting what they deserve. Yes UConn has finally been exposed. The school's basketball program had to be put on Probation for recruiting violations and academic improprieties. Calhoun had to resign and there is a black cloud over the whole program. It will take many years for them to be relevant again I say. Meanwhile Steve Lavin had been bringing St. John's back to prominence and drawing top talent back to Queens. Finally I think everything is back to where it should be again.
Fast forward to March 8th. 2014. St. John's goes on the road and wins its regular season finale in a thrilling double overtime victory at Marquette. It is their eleventh victory in the last fourteen games and the season looks like, after a slow start, it could blossom into something special. On the same day UConn ends its regular season looking like a bad CYO team in a 81-48 blowout loss to Louisville.
At the end of that March day some believe that St. John's was poised to go on a run in the Big East Tournament and then make a run in the NCAA's. Their roster of highly athletic, top rated, talent brought in by master recruiter Steve Lavin had the reputation of potentially being a problematic match up for anyone in the country. UConn despite a couple of good guards was not expected to have much of a postseason.
Now four weeks later we know the nightmare continues. The wheels have fallen off the St. John's bus. A Big East first round bow out to Providence, followed by an ultra embarrassing first round debacle, at home in the NIT, to bottom seeded Robert Morris. This was then followed by seriously troubling roster defections. Now St. John's future does not look very bright and Steve Lavin's tenure has come into question.
On the other side of this continuing bizarre equation is UConn. Somehow, someway they have made another improbable run through the NCAA tournament. Their new young and dynamic coach Kevin Ollie (a Calhoun disciple) has brought them to their fifth final four in the last fifteen years. Shabazz Napier (who four years ago as a freshman guard was part of that February 10th UConn blowout loss to St. John's) has emulated Kemba Walker and put the Huskies on his back and returned them to the promised land.
With the final four yet to be played I must say that I really really hope that UConn does not win another national title. As they thrive, somewhere like Dorian Gray, there is a picture of St. John's basketball in a closet rotting and withering
It was harmless enough in the beginning, UConn's presence in the Big East as a perennial also ran was a regular thing in the early days of the Conference. Back in the early to mid eighties they played the part of the outclassed opponent to Louie's powerful teams that were composed of great New York City talent. Our teams regularly made appearances in the NCAA Tournament year after year. They were the annual soft part of our conference schedule.. However in 1986 (the year after the great Chris Mullin Walter Berry Mark Jackson team made our last run to the final four) Dom Perno left and Jim Calhoun came in. Soon after that UConn was no longer a doormat.
In the Nineties everything began to shift Louie left and St. John's regular tourney appearances stopped. Uconn became a regular tournament participant while we sat at home. Finally in 1999 Mike Jarvis with some great recruits from Fran Fraschilla had a team that was going to put St. John's back on top. Instead Ken Johnson and Ohio State blocked our run to the final four. I then had to watch in horror as UConn led by Rip Hamilton and Kalid El-Amin upset Duke and won their first national championship.
We moved in to the next century and five years after UConn's title our program had hit rock bottom. Mike Jarvis had destroyed the once proud St. John's Hoop tradition with a unique blend of arrogance and neglect. The scandal at Pittsburgh left us with no scholarship players and an Interim coach and a group of hard trying undermanned walk-ons. We wound up at 6-21 Meanwhile back in Storrs, Emeka Okafor was dominating inside while Ben Gordon (a player Mike Jarvis passed on for Willie Shaw) was raining threes. UConn had its second national title and cemented their reputation as a true national power. On the other hand St. John's had the coming of the Norm Roberts era to look forward to.
Fast Forward another seven years later and again we are on the road back! Norm Roberts had finally left after a six year tenure of mediocrity and now West Coast Steve Lavin was coaching up Norm's players with style and panache. Eleven Days after the Red Storm blew out a number three ranked Duke team in the Garden, number ten UConn came in to the Garden for a February 10th showdown. St. John's led by the stellar play of guard Dwight Hardy ran the Huskies out of the building leaving the outclassed UConn team, including star guard Kemba Walker, gasping for oxygen. They are done I proclaim!! A month later DJ Kennedy blows out his knee and that same Kemba Walker takes UConn on a wild and insanely improbable ride through both the Big East Tournament and then through the NCAA tournament. Somehow,someway Calhoun and UConn win a third national championship. How can this be I ask? Has this guy sold his soul to the devil?
Moving forward the scales are fortunately tipping back. It appears that the good guys are on the rise again and the bad guys are finally getting what they deserve. Yes UConn has finally been exposed. The school's basketball program had to be put on Probation for recruiting violations and academic improprieties. Calhoun had to resign and there is a black cloud over the whole program. It will take many years for them to be relevant again I say. Meanwhile Steve Lavin had been bringing St. John's back to prominence and drawing top talent back to Queens. Finally I think everything is back to where it should be again.
Fast forward to March 8th. 2014. St. John's goes on the road and wins its regular season finale in a thrilling double overtime victory at Marquette. It is their eleventh victory in the last fourteen games and the season looks like, after a slow start, it could blossom into something special. On the same day UConn ends its regular season looking like a bad CYO team in a 81-48 blowout loss to Louisville.
At the end of that March day some believe that St. John's was poised to go on a run in the Big East Tournament and then make a run in the NCAA's. Their roster of highly athletic, top rated, talent brought in by master recruiter Steve Lavin had the reputation of potentially being a problematic match up for anyone in the country. UConn despite a couple of good guards was not expected to have much of a postseason.
Now four weeks later we know the nightmare continues. The wheels have fallen off the St. John's bus. A Big East first round bow out to Providence, followed by an ultra embarrassing first round debacle, at home in the NIT, to bottom seeded Robert Morris. This was then followed by seriously troubling roster defections. Now St. John's future does not look very bright and Steve Lavin's tenure has come into question.
On the other side of this continuing bizarre equation is UConn. Somehow, someway they have made another improbable run through the NCAA tournament. Their new young and dynamic coach Kevin Ollie (a Calhoun disciple) has brought them to their fifth final four in the last fifteen years. Shabazz Napier (who four years ago as a freshman guard was part of that February 10th UConn blowout loss to St. John's) has emulated Kemba Walker and put the Huskies on his back and returned them to the promised land.
With the final four yet to be played I must say that I really really hope that UConn does not win another national title. As they thrive, somewhere like Dorian Gray, there is a picture of St. John's basketball in a closet rotting and withering
.