NEW YORK � On Saturday night, at the corner of Utopia and Union, Carnesecca Arena rattled and roared before St. John's final regular season game.
By Howard Smith, U.S. Presswire
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin and his assistants, including former Purdue head coach Gene Keady (right), adopted a no-tie, white sneakers look during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Jan. 30.
By Howard Smith, U.S. Presswire
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin and his assistants, including former Purdue head coach Gene Keady (right), adopted a no-tie, white sneakers look during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Jan. 30.
"Seems like old times," said a guy who would know. As the team's 10 seniors were honored in the pre-game ceremony, Lou Carnesecca put the moment in perspective. "Those guys got us going again," said Carnesecca, his 86-year-old voice still hoarse from a lifetime of coaching.
Much of this season has been unexpectedly magical, from St. John's 20 wins, to its victories against six ranked opponents, to its No. 18 ranking, to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2002.
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On Senior Night, St. John's beat South Florida, 72-56, a fitting finish for a class that raised the program from irrelevancy.
"It was touching for us because the fans stuck with us for four years and the first three were rough for us and them," said senior guard Malik Boothe, referring to the team's 44-53 record the previous three seasons. "For us to have a season like we're having is something we and they deserve."
Under first-year coach Steve Lavin? the former UCLA coach who spent the previous seven seasons as an ESPN analyst ? the Red Storm (20-10, 12-6) have won nine of their last 11 games, finishing in a three-way tie for third place in the Big East. They face Rutgers on Wednesday in the second round of the Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden, where they knocked off five ranked opponents (Pittsburgh, Duke, Notre Dame, Connecticut and Georgetown) this season. "How far we'll go, we don't know," said school president, the Rev. Donald J. Harrington. "But the bottom line is, it's going to be a great run again under Steve. I'm confident of that."
When eight of the 10 seniors arrived on campus four years ago, St. John's was still recovering from NCAA sanctions, which included the forfeiture of 47 wins over four seasons, the loss of two scholarships and a two-year probation, a result of illicit cash payments to a player by a former director of basketball operations. Two transfers (including guard Dwight Hardy, the team's breakout star) joined the program two years ago under then-coach Norm Roberts, forming what's now the largest senior class in the country. Of the group, one is a walk-on and another is a student assistant whose playing career ended after chronic knee injuries. All are expected to graduate this spring.
"This is so unusual because as far as we know it's the first time in the history of college basketball there has ever been 10 seniors and I doubt that there will ever be 10 seniors in the future," Lavin said. " ? if you just think how it could ever happen again it's up there with unicorns and Halley's Comet."
'One of our biggest concerns ... was building their confidence'
In the hoops hotbed of New York City, the Johnnies matter again.
"I continue to remind the players how special and unique this season has been and how proud people are of these seniors who have restored pride in St. John's basketball," said Lavin.
According to Harrington, the last time the team generated this much excitement was in the early 1990s under Carnesecca.
"Even though we had a couple good years under Fran Fraschilla and Mike Jarvis, it was never the same, never the same spirit," Harrington said. "I don't think there would be as much excitement here now if we never had success before. But now we're tasting it again a bit."
Though Carnesecca doesn't travel much these days, Harrington wants the Hall of Famer to accompany the team during the NCAA Tournament. At first, Carnesecca was reluctant. He told the president he didn't want to be an "old guy tagging along." Finally, he relented. They'll only ever be one Looie, but the coach known as Lav has captivated the campus in just one season. Fans in the St. John's student section hold up oversize letters that spell out "Lavinwood." Hours before Saturday's game, many waited in line outside the arena to be among the first to receive a Lavin bobblehead.
Even Looie never had his own bobblehead. "No, but I had the sweater," he quipped.
As Saturday night turned into Sunday, Lavin sat in his office and laughed at the bobblehead bobbing on his desk. After being customized by a staff member and a bottle of Wite-Out, its shoes are now white sneakers. Since the staff ditched its ties and dress shoes for bright white Nike�Air Force Ones during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Jan. 30, the group has stuck with the not-ready-for the-runway look. That weekend, the Johnnies knocked off No. 3 Duke, but Lavin insists the sneakers are about comfort, not superstition.
After seven years in television, Lavin's return to the sideline fits like, well, an old shoe. He had spent seven seasons as the head coach at UCLA, including five trips to the Sweet Sixteen, before being fired after a 10-19 season in 2003. "A shattered point in my life professionally," he said. During his ESPN "sabbatical," as he calls it, Lavin learned from the game's top coaches, picking up advice and strategy before working their games.
Hired by St. John's last March, he quickly assembled a top-notch staff, which includes legendary Purdue coach Gene Keady, who gave Lavin, now 46, his start in the business. Before his new team even played a game, Lavin signed a top-rated recruiting class. Then the really hard work began.
"One of our biggest concerns with a team that hasn't had success was building their confidence," he said.
Hardy cog in senior machine
After a 5-2 start, the Johnnies confidence was tested on Dec. 11 when they lost to Fordham after blowing a 21-point lead. Lavin considers the loss the turning point of the season.
Later that night at dinner at a SoHo steakhouse, Lavin was upbeat and encouraged. After an epic collapse?
"Are you crazy?" Lavin remembers Keady saying at the time.
"The first half we played as well as we had all year," Lavin said. "For me it was a sneak preview, a coming attraction of what this team was capable of. The second half provided a checklist of precisely what we needed to work on to become the team that we are now."
After the loss, the Johnnies implemented a "second-gear offense," based on Pete Newell's false motion offense (Lavin's father, Cappy, played for the Hall-of-Fame coach at San Francisco; fittingly, the team's offense is called "Cappy.") When the Red Storm has a lead, wants to establish rhythm or put an opponent away, it switches from its uptempo style to a spread court offense.
Several times this season, Lavin, whose father was an English teacher, gave his players a copy of Rudyard Kipling's "If" ("If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two imposters just the same") to help manage the highs and lows.
One of those highs came against then-No. 4 Pittsburgh on Feb. 19 when Hardy's acrobatic baseline spin and under-handed basket ("a Baryshnikov pirouette" Lavin called it) with 1.2 seconds remaining gave St. John's a 60-59 victory.
Hardy, the player most responsible for the team's rise, took a circuitous route to St. John's. After his senior year at Kennedy High School in the Bronx, where he averaged 39.0 points per game, Hardy didn't have the grades to qualify at St. John's. So he spent a year at prep school and then a year at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.
"When I went the prep school route, I kind of faded out," Hardy said. "Nobody was talking about me no more. After I put up good numbers at junior college, slowly people started remembering me and what I did in high school and in street ball."
Great scorers always have a green light to shoot. Since Lavin says Hardy is the best shooter he's ever coached, Hardy has an "Emerald City Green Light, as bright a green light as it can get." Hardy, a reserve last year, was named the Big East Most Improved Player and first-team All-Big East, finishing fourth in the league in scoring with 17.9 points per game.
To describe how Hardyblends his playground best into a cohesive system, Lavin quotes from a letter he received last week from Joe Lapchick's daughter, Barbara. (Lapchick led St. John's to four NIT titles ? 1943, 1944, 1959, 1965 ? during his Hall-of-Fame career).
After watching the Pitt game, Barbara Lapcek (who uses the Czech spelling of her name) wrote: "The beauty of great intuitive playing is a form of the highest, most direct intelligence. You gave them insights into their fullest capabilities and let them loose ... My Dad would have loved what you've done."
Or as another legend would say, "Seems like old times."
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