Lavin's Big East peers say St. John's will improve

There are four new coaches in the Big East: Steve Lavin at St. John's, Kevin Willard at Seton Hall, Mike Rice at Rutgers and Oliver Purnell at DePaul. Of those, only the Red Storm's Lavin was picked by his fellow coaches in the preseason poll to make a dramatic upward move.

St. John's was voted sixth behind favorite Pittsburgh, which received 12 first-place votes. Second-place Villanova received one, third-place Syracuse two and St. John's got one. Red Storm forward D.J. Kennedy was a second-team all-conference selection.

Lavin is coaching a team with 10 seniors recruited by Norm Roberts, has added only one recruit in freshman forward Dwayne Polee and is picked seven spots higher than where the team finished last season.

"You know, Lav's always been able to recruit, and he's got a veteran team back," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Wednesday during Big East media day at Madison Square Garden. "They very well could make the biggest jump. Lav's a good coach, and he's got that charisma you've got to have."

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said his poll had St. John's fifth or sixth. "I'm sure he's worried about his size, but experience is going to carry you a long way," Calhoun said. "Steve will do a great job at St. John's."

Before convincing his fellow coaches St. John's can be an upper-echelon team, Lavin's first job was to win the trust of players who cared deeply for Roberts. "Everybody is pretty sad that coach Roberts is gone, but it's a new opportunity at hand," guard Paris Horne said. "Coach Lav didn't come in mad or say, 'Things are going to be run my way.' He's been an honest guy about the situation. He has that charm. As far as expectations, he talks about winning. We feed off that. It's contagious."

Although the Red Storm ran to some degree last season, Lavin is committed to the running game and pressing on defense.

The furthest St. John's went in six seasons under Roberts was to the first round of the NIT last year, but the seniors are aiming for a big finish. "We have a great chance of making the [NCAA] Tournament with this team," Kennedy said. "We have a lot of talent, and we're real athletic. I feel like coach feels we can be a top team in the Big East."