I don't really know much about this guy, other than the final four run. Every opinion about him I see online is positive - he's a good coach, has energy, will do a good job. I'm sure he knows how to recruit and where he'll need help in that regard. Good luck I hope it works out well for St. John's. No guarantee Cluess would be better than this guy. For alums of St. John's, you guys probably didn't want Pitino, as good of a coach as he is, representing SJ's. I wouldn't.
Pitino was my first choice and still is sad it won't happen. I do not care about the scandals, we need to win and win now. Plus he would have groomed good successor. If there is anyone we should have taken from Loyola, its Sister Jean, not the coach.
Final 4 was luck- as others said, had benefit of playing lower ranked teams further they went. And the entire "cinderella" concept is overblown- why these teams get upset is because they (1) look down or play to opponents level and (2) have not played teams like that regularly during the year so the mystery and system plays to the cinderella advantage. There are reasons why some players go to high major, mid major and low major. Of course there are always exceptions but the rule generally is consistent.
This would be bad hire as I think Cluess would. The athletic department clearly is not prioritizing taking program to next level, but would rather stay complacent and keep rebuilding because they are too cheap.