The New "SAINT" John

Former UCLA coach and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin was hired yesterday as the newest head coach of St. John's. Lavin replaces Norm Roberts, who could not bring the Red Storm to the dance in six seasons as head coach.

Lavin coached six seasons at UCLA after replacing Jim Harrick in November of 1996. Lavin compiled a 145-78 record with the Bruins, and took his teams to the sweet 16 five times, and the elite eight once.

Florida coach Billy Donovan, former Boston College coach Al Skinner and Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt were all in consideration for the job after Roberts was fired, but after Donovan and Hewitt said no, St. John's turned to Lavin.

Lavin may not be the number one choice for St. John's fans, but the Red Storm got what they wanted, a semi-big name coach with a high-profile personality. Lavin should easily challenge MTV's The Situation and Pauly D for who uses the most hair gel at one time.

Lavin has one thing going for him that every Big east coach needs, experience. Lavin started out as an assistant at Purdue under legendary coach Gene Keady, and then moved back out west to coach with Jim Harrick in 1991 at UCLA. It's one to thing to say you want to win, but Lavin knows what it takes to win.

Lavin has been to a total of 13 NCAA tournaments as a coach, and guided the Bruins to six years of 20 plus win seasons. Lavin is also 10-1 in the first two rounds of the tournament as a head coach.

Most importantly, Lavin can recruit, and being in New York will certainly help his job. At UCLA, Lavin compiled seven McDonald's all-Americans on his rosters including NBA players Trevor Ariza and Baron Davis. If Lavin can higher a few New York assistants, maybe someone like former Duke star Jay Williams, then the newest head coach of St. John's should have Madison Square Garden rocking next year.

There is no doubt St. John's is in the best shape of any college team in the New York/New Jersey area. Rutgers decided to keep Fred Hill Jr. as its head coach, even though Hill is 44-77 overall in four seasons with the Scarlet Knights. If the state University of New Jersey is in trouble, Seton Hall may be in even worse shape. The Pirates recently fired Bobby Gonzalez after four seasons and hired Iona's Kevin Willard as its new coach. Three players have already declared for the NBA draft, leaving Seton Hall with few scholarship players.

St. John's returns 94 percent of its offense from last season, a team that went 17-16 overall with a first round loss in the NIT. It is not a given that Lavin will be the next Lou Carnesecca, but the Red Storm now have an experienced coach, with an experienced team, playing in the world's most famous area, the future looks bright for St. John's.