Steve Lavin returns to St. John's bench
Head coach Steve Lavin of the St. John's Red Storm reacts against the Texas A&M Aggies during the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden. (Nov. 18, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
After undergoing prostate cancer surgery just before last season, St. John's basketball coach Steve Lavin was on the bench for four games but quickly realized he had a decision to make for his health and the health of the Red Storm program.
"We knew I wasn't going to be able to coach the team, fully recuperate and sign eight players," Lavin said Wednesday at Big East media day. "So we chose two of the three we felt would move the program forward, which was to fully recuperate and focus on my health and focus on bringing in a strong recruiting class."
Coming off his first season, in which he led St. John's to an NCAA Tournament berth but then lost 10 seniors, Lavin put together a nine-man recruiting class. But three were ineligible to begin the season. One more quit the team but was replaced by a player who became eligible the second semester. Knowing he needed another large recruiting class, Lavin delegated coaching duties to assistant Mike Dunlap, who went on to land an NBA head-coaching job in Charlotte.
"For me, there's nothing more tiring than coaching because of the emotion, the adrenaline, the energy that's expended," Lavin said. "If you're not working at full capacity, you don't have fuel to coach at that level. Recruiting, to me, is the easier part of the job.
"That's why we had to make some hard decisions in terms of how we were going to manage last season. With recruiting, you can manage the experience -- getting on a plane, making calls, having an official visit -- those are all within reason as you gradually recuperate."
While he was putting together the eight-man class (including one redshirt transfer) that joins five returning scholarship players this season, Lavin acknowledged encountering negative recruiting from rivals questioning his long-term commitment to St. John's.
"There was misinformation about my health," Lavin said. "So the most important aspect was to put the reality on the table for the families so they knew I was fine."
Coming off a 13-19 season, St. John's was voted 10th in the preseason coaches' poll, which Lavin called "logical" based on his team's youth. But he likes his mix of talent with preseason second-team All-Big East guard D'Angelo Harrison and new big men JaKarr Sampson, Orlando Sanchez and Chris Obekpa.
"When we recruit," Lavin said, "we're putting together a program we feel can be successful for the long haul."
