Lavin succeeds Roberts at St. John's
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By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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St. John's has hired ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin to succeed Norm Roberts, a school spokesman said Tuesday.
Lavin has been with ESPN the past six years after being fired at UCLA in 2003. He coached the Bruins to the NCAA tournament six times in seven seasons, including one Elite Eight appearance and five trips to the Sweet 16. He inherits a team that could return 10 seniors for 2010-11.
The school will hold a news conference to introduce Lavin on Wednesday.
St. John's has been searching for a big-name hire to increase the team's profile in the New York media market. The university made an overture to Florida's Billy Donovan and a formal offer to Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, who declined.
The Red Storm also interviewed former Boston College coach Al Skinner and former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, who took the Iowa job, and were interested in talking to Rhode Island's Jim Baron.
St. John's hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. The Red Storm has appeared in the NIT twice since that appearance, including earlier this month under Roberts.
This season, St. John's finished 17-16 overall and 6-12 in the Big East. After knocking off UConn and nearly upsetting Marquette in the Big East tournament, the Red Storm lost in the first round of the NIT at Memphis.
Coincidentally, the Red Storm has a home-and-home series signed for next season against UCLA, Lavin's former team.
Lavin was fired by UCLA after going 10-19, his only losing season and the school's first in 55 years. It was the only season in which one of Lavin's UCLA teams did not win at least 20 games.
"I wish Coach Lav nothing but the best," former Bruin and current Los Angeles Clipper Baron Davis said. "He's always been so supportive of his former players, and I know he truly cares about anyone that plays for him, both personally and professionally. I can easily say I think his new team will instantly take to his personality and passion for the game. He has had time since he last coached to build his gameplan for his style. I love Coach Lav and St. John's is a great fit for him. I am totally on board to support him and I think its great for college basketball to have him on the sidelines again."
Lavin, who had five years remaining on his contract when he was fired, fell into the job when Jim Harrick was fired in November 1996 -- only a week before the season began and 19 months after the Bruins won their 11th national championship. With Harrick assistants Mark Gottfried and Lorenzo Romar already having taken head jobs, then-athletic director Peter Dalis promoted Lavin from unproven assistant to head coach.
His teams at UCLA beat four No. 1-ranked teams, but in his final season, the Bruins had a then-record 10 losses at Pauley Pavilion and the average attendance of 8,348 in the 12,819-seat arena was the lowest since 1993.
Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press was used in this report.
EmailPrintComments
115
Share
137
retweet202
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Archive
St. John's has hired ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin to succeed Norm Roberts, a school spokesman said Tuesday.
Lavin has been with ESPN the past six years after being fired at UCLA in 2003. He coached the Bruins to the NCAA tournament six times in seven seasons, including one Elite Eight appearance and five trips to the Sweet 16. He inherits a team that could return 10 seniors for 2010-11.
The school will hold a news conference to introduce Lavin on Wednesday.
St. John's has been searching for a big-name hire to increase the team's profile in the New York media market. The university made an overture to Florida's Billy Donovan and a formal offer to Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, who declined.
The Red Storm also interviewed former Boston College coach Al Skinner and former Siena coach Fran McCaffery, who took the Iowa job, and were interested in talking to Rhode Island's Jim Baron.
St. John's hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. The Red Storm has appeared in the NIT twice since that appearance, including earlier this month under Roberts.
This season, St. John's finished 17-16 overall and 6-12 in the Big East. After knocking off UConn and nearly upsetting Marquette in the Big East tournament, the Red Storm lost in the first round of the NIT at Memphis.
Coincidentally, the Red Storm has a home-and-home series signed for next season against UCLA, Lavin's former team.
Lavin was fired by UCLA after going 10-19, his only losing season and the school's first in 55 years. It was the only season in which one of Lavin's UCLA teams did not win at least 20 games.
"I wish Coach Lav nothing but the best," former Bruin and current Los Angeles Clipper Baron Davis said. "He's always been so supportive of his former players, and I know he truly cares about anyone that plays for him, both personally and professionally. I can easily say I think his new team will instantly take to his personality and passion for the game. He has had time since he last coached to build his gameplan for his style. I love Coach Lav and St. John's is a great fit for him. I am totally on board to support him and I think its great for college basketball to have him on the sidelines again."
Lavin, who had five years remaining on his contract when he was fired, fell into the job when Jim Harrick was fired in November 1996 -- only a week before the season began and 19 months after the Bruins won their 11th national championship. With Harrick assistants Mark Gottfried and Lorenzo Romar already having taken head jobs, then-athletic director Peter Dalis promoted Lavin from unproven assistant to head coach.
His teams at UCLA beat four No. 1-ranked teams, but in his final season, the Bruins had a then-record 10 losses at Pauley Pavilion and the average attendance of 8,348 in the 12,819-seat arena was the lowest since 1993.
Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press was used in this report.
