Lavin sees bright future for young team
Moe Harkless of St. John's brings the ball upcourt in the first half. (Feb. 8, 2012) Credit: Errol Anderson
St. John's on-campus finale against DePaul Monday night at Carnesecca Arena featured senior night -- with the only senior being walk-on Boris Brakalov, who was a student manager until his talents became more useful on the practice court for this season's undermanned Red Storm.
After saying goodbye to 10 seniors from last season's NCAA Tournament team, St. John's has fought to survive with five freshman starters and a junior college transfer as the lone substitute in the six-man rotation. Despite the talent of leading scorers D'Angelo Harrison (16.9) and Moe Harkless (15.7) and the very capable play of starters Phil Greene, Sir'Dominic Pointer and Amir Garrett and reserve God'sgift Achiuwa, this season has been a brutal learning experience for the Red Storm (11-16, 4-10 Big East).
Their difficulties have been compounded by the absence of Steve Lavin, who tried coaching four early-season games shortly after undergoing prostate cancer surgery but found he lacked sufficient energy. After watching from a Madison Square Garden luxury box on Saturday as his young team defeated UCLA, his former team, Lavin issued an update on his health and his recruiting schedule.
"I feel well,'' Lavin said in his statement. "I've stuck with my workout routines, eating my Popeye's spinach and, as coach [John] Wooden said, it's important to get that oatmeal in early in the day. All things are improving. Right now, I'm putting a lot of energy into recruiting, and that's the most effective way for me to lead the program forward. We're burning the fuel on the road and determined to sign another stellar class here in 2012.
"We knew this was going to be a three-year process, and we're establishing a blueprint to build this program. We surprised people and were ahead of schedule last year by making the tournament, but clearly, you can see the upside of this young team and they're blossoming right before our eyes.''
As part of this week's "On the Line'' national statement week, St. John's coaching staff wore blue bow ties for Monday night's ESPNU-televised game against DePaul (11-15, 2-12) as a means of raising awareness of prostate cancer. Lavin's surgery took place Oct. 6, and he has emphasized since then that he is "cancer-free.'' But as he repeated in his statement, his "vital signs go north'' because of his active coaching style.
There is no timeline for Lavin's return to the bench, but it appears unlikely he will be back this season with only Saturday's home finale against Notre Dame at the Garden and road games at Pitt and Rutgers remaining before the Big East Tournament.
As Lavin said in his statement: "I'm going to continue to focus on recruiting. I still come in and watch film with the players and I'm obviously involved in game preparation. I meet with the kids individually . . . We're on track to be back next year.''
When senior night rolls around next year, Achiuwa and walk-on Jamal White will be the lone honorees, but maybe by then, Lavin's focus on recruiting will have paid off.
