Lavin visits team, praises effort and Dunlap

When Steve Lavin's "Longest Season" was over, he decided it was time to rejoin his team's locker room after St. John's lost to Pittsburgh in the first round of the Big East Tournament Tuesday. It was Lavin's first postgame visit since he took leave from the bench for the final 27 games while recovering from prostate cancer surgery.

During that period, Lavin consulted with assistant Mike Dunlap but let him run the show. Explaining his decision to stay away even though he watched games at the Garden from a luxury box, Lavin said: "Once Mike was on deck as the captain, he needed the space to do his job and to trust his instincts and his expertise. I knew we'd be communicating constantly. I think it's important that there be one voice, so it doesn't create any ambiguity for the players."

The Big East Coach of the Year award went to South Florida's Stan Heath yesterday, but plenty of people connected to the league have said Dunlap could have been a strong candidate for the way he stepped into the breach with a team that used a six-man rotation, including five freshman starters the second half of the season.

Referring to Dunlap, Lavin said: "I said in front of the team he knocked it out of the park. One of the things I gave everyone in the room credit for is they didn't sign up for this particular situation. The players came here with the understanding I was going to be their head coach. Mike Dunlap didn't know he was going to become the head coach. So, given that and the schedule we played, I was proud of the performance of our staff and of our players."

While he was regaining his strength, Lavin focused on recruiting, and he said that will be his priority, to add more depth and talent. But he also might have to worry about forward Moe Harkless leaving for the NBA. "I haven't even broached the subject to Moe," Lavin said. "But when we have our individual meetings, we're going to talk about his future and whether that's at St. John's or the next level."