Ian Steere Commits

Done! Per Rothstein
Source: NC State transfer Ian Steere has committed to St. John's. #SJUBB

Done! Per Rothstein
Source: NC State transfer Ian Steere has committed to St. John's. #SJUBB

wooo hooo!

Time to celebrate. Matt really pulled a rabbit out of his hat yet again at the 23rd hour. No less than a month ago we were looking at a empty Fall class, now we have two ready made rotation players ready to impact next season in a big way. Question for the board, do we even recruit Kofi any longer at this point?

Time to celebrate. Matt really pulled a rabbit out of his hat yet again at the 23rd hour. No less than a month ago we were looking at a empty Fall class, now we have two ready made rotation players ready to impact next season in a big way. Question for the board, do we even recruit Kofi any longer at this point?

I hope we still try to land Kofi. He’s a terrific player.

I hope we still try to land Kofi. He’s a terrific player.

Din’t think so, different position, but Precious more realistic

It's nice to get some size and strength since we don't seem to be able to develop it ourselves in the conditioning program.

Hopefully this kid can and wants to use it. I definitely see it as a positive that Caraher and Steere both have fathers that live in weight rooms.

It's nice to get some size and strength since we don't seem to be able to develop it ourselves in the conditioning program.

Hopefully this kid can and wants to use it. I definitely see it as a positive that Caraher and Steere both have fathers that live in weight rooms.

That seems to be a bit overblown to me. Trimble seems to have gotten in much better shape and Ponds has certainly added strength in his time here. We just haven't been getting many big kids that stay long enough to see it develop.

That seems to be a bit overblown to me. Trimble seems to have gotten in much better shape and Ponds has certainly added strength in his time here. We just haven't been getting many big kids that stay long enough to see it develop.

It's not overblown at all. It's a glaring weakness of the program. A chubby high school player losing weight is expected in college.

Calhoun consistently developed 190-210 big men into 230-250 lb powerful players at Uconn. The strength program was of utmost importance to him since he rarely got top 20 talent. Ben Gordon was benching over 300 lbs which is unheard of in college basketball let alone from a small guard.

It's not overblown at all. It's a glaring weakness of the program. A chubby high school player losing weight is expected in college.

Calhoun consistently developed 190-210 big men into 230-250 lb powerful players at Uconn. The strength program was of utmost importance to him since he rarely got top 20 talent. Ben Gordon was benching over 300 lbs which is unheard of in college basketball let alone from a small guard.

I’m not saying it’s not important, obviously it’s important. Big Guys make Big Plays.
My point is that we don’t have any evidence of that not happening here, not many long term players to pull from.

I’m not saying it’s not important, obviously it’s important. Big Guys make Big Plays.
My point is that we don’t have any evidence of that not happening here, not many long term players to pull from.

Can you name 3 players that have ever gained 20 lbs here since Jarvis left? Because plenty of programs do that with regularity. Look at what happened to Okafor, Hilton Armstrong, and Josh Boone in the same time Owens was here. Owens left SJU at 6'10 200. Pointer left here at 195. Sampson left as a stringbean too and was jacked by the time the draft came around.

Can you name 3 players that have ever gained 20 lbs here since Jarvis left? Because plenty of programs do that with regularity. Look at what happened to Okafor, Hilton Armstrong, and Josh Boone in the same time Owens was here. Owens left SJU at 6'10 200. Pointer left here at 195. Sampson left as a stringbean too and was jacked by the time the draft came around.

So basically another area the staff is lacking in.

So basically another area the staff is lacking in.

I'm not going to pile on the staff. It's seems silly to judge anyone based on the crap pool of talent Mullin has the first three years.
There is a certain amount of learning on the job expected for an entirely new coaching college staff.

I've seen evidence of the staff realizing problems and addressing them. This seems to be one such area. We've gone from recruiting stringbeans to landing 240 lb Keita, 220 lb Caraher, 235 lb Earlington, and 260 lb Steere. As Mullin gains more experience and sees how our current relatively heavy and strong group fairs, I'm sure his demands of the strength and conditioning staff will go up.

We're 5-0 and we have arguably the most talented roster we've had in 20 years...ease up on the staff, enjoy what looks like a great season, and hold off judgment of the staff until April. If the staff can't win with these guys, criticism will be warranted.

Besides Owens you’re naming players from a different staff, which I would mention that both Pointer and Obekpa noticeably added a good bit of strength while they were here, though I’ll also admit that I don’t have their preseason weigh-ins on hand.

Plenty of guys don’t have that ability to gain a whole lot of weight and I think Owens is one of them, Durant is another.

Our guys may not be the strongest but based on the amount of minutes they play game to game they have to be among the fittest in the country.

I like big guys. I hope we get more of them. I also like small guys that are ballers. I also like medium sized guys that are smart and know how to play. Most of all I like guys that are around for a few years that play ball with eachother consistently and make tournaments and make me look smart in front of my friends.

I'm not going to pile on the staff. It's seems silly to judge anyone based on the crap pool of talent Mullin has the first three years.
There is a certain amount of learning on the job expected for an entirely new coaching college staff.

I've seen evidence of the staff realizing problems and addressing them. This seems to be one such area. We've gone from recruiting stringbeans to landing 240 lb Keita, 220 lb Caraher, 235 lb Earlington, and 260 lb Steere. As Mullin gains more experience and sees how our current relatively heavy and strong group fairs, I'm sure his demands of the strength and conditioning staff will go up.

We're 5-0 and we have arguably the most talented roster we've had in 20 years...ease up on the staff, enjoy what looks like a great season, and hold off judgment of the staff until April. If the staff can't win with these guys, criticism will be warranted.

Fair enough. It just drives me crazy the lack of aggression our guards play defense on the perimeter. Overall I’m excited over the prospects of the season. It’s been quite awhile we had some expectations.

Besides Owens you’re naming players from a different staff, which I would mention that both Pointer and Obekpa noticeably added a good bit of strength while they were here, though I’ll also admit that I don’t have their preseason weigh-ins on hand.

Plenty of guys don’t have that ability to gain a whole lot of weight and I think Owens is one of them, Durant is another.

Our guys may not be the strongest but based on the amount of minutes they play game to game they have to be among the fittest in the country.

I like big guys. I hope we get more of them. I also like small guys that are ballers. I also like medium sized guys that are smart and know how to play. Most of all I like guys that are around for a few years that play ball with eachother consistently and make tournaments and make me look smart in front of my friends.

My issue is with the strength and conditioning and not necessarily the staff. Obekpa progressed adequately. He is the lone player I can think of--that can easily be attributed to him as an individual, though.  Dom Pointer was an unequivocal failure. He was a strong boxer when he came here and for him to leave SJU after four years WELL under 220 lbs is an unmitigated disgrace.

My issue is with the strength and conditioning and not necessarily the staff. Obekpa progressed adequately. He is the lone player I can think of--that can easily be attributed to him as an individual, though.  Dom Pointer was an unequivocal failure. He was a strong boxer when he came here and for him to leave SJU after four years WELL under 220 lbs is an unmitigated disgrace.

Pointer is a 6'5'' kid who wanted to make the pros as a guard.  What the hell are you talking about. 

I'm a little wary of Steere staying... the decommit from Creighton, going to NC State and nearly immediately transferring.  Not like they have a thousand options now but it's a little unsettling.  He had a lot of high major interest coming out of HS.

I'm a little wary of Steere staying... the decommit from Creighton, going to NC State and nearly immediately transferring.  Not like they have a thousand options now but it's a little unsettling.  He had a lot of high major interest coming out of HS.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

Pointer is a 6'5'' kid who wanted to make the pros as a guard.  What the hell are you talking about. 

Shaq was more of a guard than Dom Pointer. He was a combo forward. He didn't have the skill to ever play guard.

Pointer is a 6'5'' kid who wanted to make the pros as a guard.  What the hell are you talking about. 

From 2011 draft combine:

Kawhi Leonard 6'6 227.4 lbs
Iman Shimpert 6'4 221.8 lbs
Kyle Singler 6'7 228 lbs
Jimmy Butler 6'6 222.2 lbs
David Lighty 6'4 216.2 lbs
Charles Jenkins 6'1 216.4 lbs
Kenneth Faried 6'6 224.6
Tobias Harris 6'6 222 lbs
Derick Williams 6'7 248.4 lbs


Dom Pointer 6'6 192 lbs

Thanks for playing.