Why Steve Lavin Returned to Coaching

panther2 said:
Let me state this one last time. I was at CTK games with the Lavin and staff. Omar Calhoun was there and he also had a sophmore who was pretty good. Some on here were so anti Lavin that they believed whatever was put out there. There were really no players at CTK that had success at the High Major level at that time. Arbitelle was also mad because Lave got a commitment from Delarosa without his help.

As for Briscoe, I was in a room after Midnight Madness with Tony Chiles, Rico Hines, D'Angelo Harrison, and Rysheed Jordan when Briscoe stated that he was coming to St Johns and looking forward to Playing with Jordan if he was still here. However, at the last minute, he got a better "NIL" deal from Kentucky. Guess who dropped the bag off???
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One slice please
 
room112 said:
But it appeared Lavin had stopped "busting his ass" well before that point.
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Lavin's cancer was routinely used against him in recruiting. How different would Lavin's tenure been if Rico Gathers had come?

And from Dave Telep on ESPN Insider ($), Gathers' brother Greg speaks on the decommitment:

"Back in August, that was before the Big East situation, Lavin’s health and then the ineligible players ... you want to be 100 percent sure with leaving Louisiana and going to New York."
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Section3 said:
Get your point Boo. But, Briscoe, from what I recall, was not a Hail Mary. My recollection is that his dad wanted SJ and wasn’t happy at the selection. I says this, not because I think he wasnt entitled to make his own choice, just reinforcing fact that we were very serious contenders.
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Agree on Briscoe. We were right there. But we needed to have a backup plan. Briscoe by himself wasn’t going to ensure success. We needed a balanced roster, which we didn’t have for several years.
 
ShrekII said:
Lavin's cancer was routinely used against him in recruiting. How different would Lavin's tenure been if Rico Gathers had come?

And from Dave Telep on ESPN Insider ($), Gathers' brother Greg speaks on the decommitment:
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I'm not trying to be negative against Lavin. I'm simply recounting how things went down at the time based on the tone of this board. I'm not even offering my personal opinion. I remember how many countless comments we'd see about how he was dining out in Soho too much instead of being at recruiting events. Besides, it wasnt only his final class that was the issue. It was the two prior to it as well that left much to be desired.

2013 - Rysheed Jordan (even though highly ranked, he wasnt even being targeted by most major schools for obvious reasons)

2014 - Amar Alibegovic and Keith Thomas (yuck)

2015 - His final class which was never to be which included Sampson and nearly Briscoe.

I actually like Lavin. In hindsight I wish he was retained. But I'm not sure how it's fair to say for whatever reason, after cancer it just wasn't the same. Even with Briscoe, as others pointed out there was no backup plan and he ended up signing some lower ranked recruits most were unhappy with, before they decommitted when he was fired. Sammy Barnes Thompkins anyone? In fact this article from 2015 sums up the exact sentiment at the time.

www.rumbleinthegarden.com

Lavin's recruiting scrambles led to his departure

Known as a great recruiter when he came to St. John's, recruiting misses, reaches, and scrambles led to Steve Lavin's departure.
www.rumbleinthegarden.com www.rumbleinthegarden.com
 
Amazing how one thing that, if it goes right, changes everything for us always goes wrong

Briscoe, obekpa, Lovett leaving school, lavin getting sick and on and on and on…
 
Year 2 was full of a cascading series of misfortune and mistakes that ruined the momentum from the first season and set SJU and Lav so far back that they never really recoverd.
1. Cancer diagnosis
2. Garret, Pelle, Sampson declared ineligible.
3. Gathers decommits
4. Nurideen Lindsey bails on team mid-season.
5. Mike Dunlap leaves for the NBA
6. Moe Harkless declares for draft.
7. Pelle bails.
 
MainMan said:
Year 2 was full of a cascading series of misfortune and mistakes that ruined the momentum from the first season and set SJU and Lav so far back that they never really recoverd.
1. Cancer diagnosis
2. Garret, Pelle, Sampson declared ineligible.
3. Gathers decommits
4. Nurideen Lindsey bails on team mid-season.
5. Mike Dunlap leaves for the NBA
6. Moe Harkless declares for draft.
7. Pelle bails.
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How could you forget Malik Stith transferring out mid year?
 
Boo Harvey said:
My view, without any inside info, is as follows: The school made an impulsive move hiring Mullin that obviously backfired.

While Lavin enjoyed some success, he had also significantly underachieved. His recruiting was on the downswing and he did not appear to be aggressively searching for a full and balanced roster. Instead, he appeared to be swinging for the fences for the Briscos of the world without any backup plan.

How much of his recruiting struggles were a function of lack of support of the administration, the cancer, being burtout, or the honeymoon period being over is anybody’s guess.

But his recruiting dropped off significantly well before the final year. As for his in-game coaching ability, there seems to be a near consensus among this Board that it was average at best.

I think Lavin is a charismatic and quality individual. He continues to speak well about SJU and we enjoyed some nice moments while he was coach. For that, I will always remember him fondly.

But I think we can do better. Whether CMA is the right guy is a big question mark. But we can only look forward. I find myself surprisingly optimistic for next year. When this past season ended, I had us penciled in as a bottom dweller. Now I think we have a real chance to dance. Im very much looking forward to November.
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Agree on all fronts. Now if the kids can work on their shooting maybe they can have a good year!
 
I say all the best to Coach! He was always very nice to the fam and went through a tough patch here. He wasn't even that terrible as an analyst (that's high praise from me).
 
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