Three ineligible freshmen at St. John's, not as bad as you think it is

When Steve Lavin made the decision to take the St. John's job back 18 months ago, he knew he had to bring in a loaded 2011 recruiting class.

That's what happens when you take a job coaching a program with 10 seniors on the roster. So while St. John's made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 last season, Lavin knew back on March 31st, 2010, that his program would essentially be starting from scratch with his crop of 2011 recruits.

To Lavin's credit, he did just that, bringing in a nine-man class that ranked right behind Duke and Kentucky's as one of the best in the country. But since he was in a bit of a desperate position, Lavin had to take on a couple of risks, namely Jakarr Sampson, Norvel Pelle and Amir Garrett. Today, St. John's got the news that all three of those recruits -- who sit at 38th, 57th and 76th, respectively, in our Consensus Class of 2011 rankings -- would be ineligible for at least the first semester.


"The NCAA Eligibility Center informed us this afternoon that after a review, these three PSAs cannot qualify at this time," said Director of Athletics Chris Monasch said in a statement. "The University has been proactive and diligent in assisting in the reviews for each of our incoming men's basketball student-athletes. We will continue to review what avenues the student-athletes may have to achieve their initial eligibility."

"We will continue to work with the NCAA in an effort to review Amir, Norvel and JaKarr's cases regarding their eligibility. Our student-athletes and their families have been patient and cooperative throughout this review process," added Lavin. "We are hopeful that Amir, Norvel and JaKarr will be able to join us on the court this winter, and in the classroom when the 2012 spring semester begins."

What happens from here is unclear. The official statement is that all three players will try and earn their eligibility for the second semester, but whether that actually happens is a different story. Garrett has a contract with a $1 million signing bonus to play baseball in the Cincinnati Reds' organization, a sport where he may actually be a better prospect. Sampson has yet to enroll at St. John's, so there is talk that he will head back to Brewster Academy for another season and try to enroll at St. John's in 2012-2013. As far as Pelle is concerned, the rumor that made its way through twitter this evening is he may never suit up for St. John's.

Let's assume the worst case scenario -- none of the three ever set foot on the St. John's campus. While it will damper some of the expectations of St. John's fans heading into the season, this is not as bad of a result as you think. Simply put, talented recruiting class and all, the Johnnies were headed for a long season full of growing pains. Even with those three in the fold come Big East play, finishing in the top half of the conference and making the NCAA Tournament would have been a very impressive feat for a team that literally returns a single player. Winning with freshmen is not an easy thing to do. When UConn overhauled their roster following the 2006 season -- when they lost their top six players from a team with a seven-man rotation -- the Huskies brought in a loaded recruiting class and promptly finished 11th in the Big East.

The 2011-2012 season was about laying the groundwork for the future of St. John's basketball under Steve Lavin. Without Sampson, Pelle or Garrett, Lavin's uphill battle gets just that much steeper.

But that doesn't change the fact that he is still bringing in six talented recruits. And those six kids, who are going to be thrown into the fire from the first time they put on a Red Storm uniform, will have to grow up quickly. Its not ideal, but Lavin will still get the foundation that he needs to build his program on.

And in the end, that is what this season was supposed to be about in the first place.
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VIDEO: Steve Lavin got ejected

Jeremy Hazell had 31 points and Fuquan Edwin went for 19 as the Pirate knocked off the Johnnies 84-70 at the Prudential Center. The loss really hurts St. John's chances for getting one of the top seeds in the Big East Tournament. If Louisville beats West Virginia and Syracuse can knock off DePaul at home, Steve Lavin's team will end up as the fifth seed.

But that isn't the most exciting part of last night's game. Lavin got himself ejected (h/t bubbaprog):



"I'm not proud at all of the poor display of conduct on the sidelines, and I apologize to our players and St. John's and our fan base and basketball fans at large," Lavin said in the locker room after the game. "I set a bad example."

The Johnnies were unhappy with a lot of calls. The game was chippy, it was physical, and it was everything you would expect out of New York vs. New Jersey. So while Lavin didn't exactly set the best example, he did prove to his players that he has their backs when calls aren't going their way.

That wasn't the end of the nastiness, however.

With less than 10 seconds left, Seton Hall got a steal and Justin Burrell fouled a player going in for a dunk very hard. He was called for an intentional and then thrown out of the game when he glared at the player he had hit after the fact. The two teams had to be separated following the incident.

"I'm very encouraged, not disappointed whatsoever," Lavin said. "My message in the locker room was that ... it's a great wake-up call, like smelling salts or getting punched in the mouth. And that's the beauty of sports -- that if you don't bring it every night, if you don't bring the brass knuckles and the A-level effort, you're gonna get beat."

I've never liked the idea of a team "needing a loss." You can learn just as much from a win as you can from a loss.

But Lavin's reaction to the loss was perfect. His ejection is going to be what folks are talking about (see this post as an example). And he will use it as a teaching point -- 'see what happens when you are too nonchalant?' -- to drive home to his players that they must come to play every single day.

There is no such thing as a good loss. Teams don't "need to lose." In this blogger's humble opinion, that idea is a myth.

But that doesn't mean a coach can't use a loss to drive home a point.

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Steve Lavin has always recruited well, but can he win games with that talent?

Much has been made of Steve Lavin's first recruiting class at St. John's.

Yesterday, he landed two recruits -- high-scoring JuCo combo-guard Nurideen Lindsay and top 100 small forward Dominick Pointer. Those two joined a 2011 recruiting class that already includes top 100 players JaKarr Sampson, Maurice Harkless, and D'Angelo Harrison. Throw Dwayne Polee, a three-star recruit that will be eligible to play for the Johnnies this season, and Lavin's tenure as Norm Roberts replacement is already off to an impressive start. And he still hasn't coached a game.

But Lavin's ability to recruit has never really been questioned.

Steve Lavin has been on fire on the recruiting trail this summer.
(photo credit: AP)

During his tenure at UCLA, Lavin twice -- in 1998 and 2001 -- brought in the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. He brought in seven McDonald's all-americans in his seven years. Seven of his Bruin players made it to the NBA -- Trevor Ariza, Matt Barnes, Baron Davis, Dan Gadzuric, Ryan Hollins, Jason Kapono, and Earl Watson. He's no stranger to bringing in talent.

And while he is generally thought of as a west coast guy with connections throughout California, it shouldn't necessarily surprise people that someone with his personality is capable of landing top-flight recruits at a Big East school. "You can be one of the kids that helps rebuild the storied St. John's program" can be a pretty convincing pitch to make.

Lavin's problem at UCLA was that he couldn't turn that talent into wins.

Lavin backed into the head coaching job at UCLA. Jim Harrick was fired in November of 1996, and his two lead assistants -- Mark Gottfried and Lorenzo Romar -- had already taken other gigs. So the Bruins turned to Lavin, who at that point was an unproven assistant.

He wasn't terrible in his time at UCLA -- he made five Sweet 16's in seven years. But 1997 was the only year he brought a team to the Elite 8. It was also the only time UCLA finished better than third in the Pac-10. They were sixth in the conference his last two seasons, including a 10-19 debacle in 2003. That may be acceptable at other programs, but not at UCLA.

Not when he had as much talent as he had on his rosters.

The first step to building any kind of successful program at any level of college basketball is to line your roster with talent. Lavin is in the process of doing just that. He's proven that his success of the recruiting trail at UCLA was no fluke.

Now he has to prove that he can win games. He has to prove that he can be a game coach. A coach can have all the talent in the world on his roster, but if that coach cannot put together an effective game plan or make the necessary adjustments to that game plan while the game is being played, he won't beat many good teams.

That is where Lavin still needs to prove himself.

And while Gene Keady's hiring will certainly help, St. John's fans should keep that in mind in regards to their expectations for the Lavin era in Queens.

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Steve Lavin lands two more recruits

Steve Lavin continues to clean up on the recruiting trail, as he landed two more quality recruits yesterday.

Dominick Pointer, an athletic, 6'5" small forward from Detroit that plays his high school ball in North Carolina, committed yesterday afternoon. He picked the Red Storm over Michigan.

Pointer wasn't the only Johnnies commit on Monday. JuCo point guard Nurideen Lindsey, a big-time scorer whose saga was chronicled earlier this off-season by the New York Times, committed to Steve Lavin's club over a number of other big-time programs.

Nurideen Lindsey didn't have the easiest upbringing in Philly.
(photo credit: NY Times)

Lindsey and Pointer join JaKarr Sampson, D'Angelo Harrison, and Maurice Harkless as members of the 2011 St. John's recruiting class. While this group is not quite on the level of the class that Kentucky is bringing in next season, Lavin has put together a group that will match up with just about any recruiting class in the Big East.

And he's not done yet.

The Red Storm have ten seniors on scholarship for this season, meaning that Lavin has only filled half of his available scholarships for the 2011-2012 season. Lindsey is a combo-guard, Harrison is a two-guard, and Pointer, Sampson, and Harkless are all small forwards, which means that Lavin would do well to land some size and a point guard, especially when you consider he also brought in small forward Dwayne Polee this season.

While there may be a logjam on the perimeter, the bottom line is that, Lavin has four top 100 freshmen and a JuCo player that averaged 38 ppg as a high school junior playing in Philly joining his program in 2011.

That's a damn good start.

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Steve Lavin continues to reign in talent

Steve Lavin continues to bring in the talent to St. John's.

This time, its D'Angelo Harrison, a talented 6'3" off-guard hailing all the way from Texas. That is impressive reach for Lavin, a West Coast guy now coaching in New York City, especially when you consider he hasn't even yet coached a practice. Harrison joins fellow four star recruits Moe Harkless and Jakarr Sampson in what essentially is Lavin's first recruiting class. (I say essentially because he did bring in Dwayne Polee for next season.)

But Lavin is doing more than just recruiting players.

He's added Gene Keady to his staff.

Keady will be in New York from October through April, essentially throughout the course of the season, which is great news for Lavin. Keady is a legend, and while it may not necessarily impress the recruits of the Twitter-era, adding a basketball mind like Keady's is what Lavin needs. The knock on him as a coach at UCLA was that he could recruit, but he wasn't a great in-game coach or game planner.

Now he has a guy with 550 career wins on the bench next to him.

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St. John's hires Steve Lavin

Its not too difficult to figure out that St. John's was looking to make a splash when hiring their new head coach.

They basically offered everyone. Billy Donovan turned down $3 million a year. St. John's AD Chris Monasch couldn't convince Paul Hewitt, and his family, to leave Atlanta. Seth Greenberg passed. Al Skinner didn't fit the bill. Fran McCaffery went to Iowa instead of St. John's. Kevin Willard went to Seton Hall to clean up that mess instead.

Today, the Johnnies finally hired a coach, inking Steve Lavin to a six-year deal worth somewhere around $9 million. Yes, that Steve Lavin. The one that has been an ESPN analyst since 2003. Fans are certainly excited about the hiring, and NYC media members seem optimistic as well.

Steve Lavin is going from ESPN analyst to St. John's head coach.
(photo credit: Getty Images)

As I said, St. John's wanted to make a splash with this hiring. They wanted the media and the fans to be talking about it, and they succeeded. Steve Lavin is a big time name and a face people will recognize, but whether or not he is a big time coach deserves to be questioned.

Lavin lucked into the UCLA job. Its as simple as that. Jim Harrick was fired in November of 1996, and his two lead assistants -- Mark Gottfried and Lorenzo Romar -- had already taken other gigs, The Bruins then turned to Lavin, who at that point was an unproven assistant.

He wasn't terrible at UCLA. He went to five Sweet 16's in seven years. He made the Elite 8 in his first season. He twice put together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country (1998, 2001), signed seven McDonald's All-Americans, and has sent seven players to the NBA.

But therein lies the problem.

With that much talent coming through his program, the only year he was able to advance beyond the Sweet 16 was his first year in 1997, when he was hired a week before the season started. 1997 was also the only time UCLA finished better than third in the Pac-10 during his tenure. They were sixth in the conference his last two seasons, including a 10-19 debacle in 2003.

There is no questioning Lavin's persona -- he's great with the media, he is a people person, he even has a smoking hot wife. The guy just oozes charisma.

He's also a California guy with connections up-and-down the West Coast. Anyone that is going to have any kind of success at St. John's has to be able to recruit New York City and the tri-state area. The amount of talent that comes out of the region is impressive, but the politics of recruiting NYC can also be daunting.

How is Lavin going to establish connections with the city's AAU and high school programs?

For Lavin to be successful at St. John's, he needs to do two things. He needs to hire an assistant that is an x's-and-o's kind of guy -- that was the biggest criticism of his tenure at UCLA -- and he needs to hire a New York guy to recruit.

He basically has a year to do it as well. St. John's has nine scholarship seniors, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It means that Lavin will be coaching a team with experience and maturity, which is just about all you can ask for at a new program.

But it also means he is going to be in a whole lot of trouble if he cant recruit. Nine scholarships is a lot of spots to fill.

I know St. John's is far from the program it was in the 80's, or even in the late 90's. But there is something to be said for New York City's college basketball team. They play in Madison Square Garden. There is history there. Its not crazy to think that this program can be rebuilt.

But for Lavin to do it, he is going to need a quality staff around him. As it is, St. John's is putting a lot of faith in a guy that hasn't coached in the last seven seasons -- which is equivalent to the experience he has as a head coach -- and who has held just one head coaching job where he wasn't overly successful.

This could turn out great for St. John's, but it could also end up being a very expensive mistake.
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