New Coach Options

More of the same from SJU and more underwhelming coaching from Mike Anderson. None of this comes as a surprise- he had a career of mediocrity when he arrived. "Winning records" do not always equate to contenders.

Once we complete our annual Big East conference games collapse, let's hope we look in new direction and that the school decides to actually invest in the program again. With that being said, let's start naming coach options. They can range from realistic to reaches.  Basically, it is an opportunity for us to discuss and bring to light some names.

I will start us off with some reaches........

Jay Wright
Mark Jackson

Just Below Reaches..........

Rick Pitino
Greg St. Jean (saw him mentioned earlier)

Where we think SJU will look..........

Steve Masiello (former Manhattan coach with mixed success but low point in recent years, now at Iona under Pitino)
Rasheen Davis (assistant at Seton Hall with some local connections)
Brian Blaney (assistant on Providence- our Prez used to be Prez there)

More of the same from SJU and more underwhelming coaching from Mike Anderson. None of this comes as a surprise- he had a career of mediocrity when he arrived. "Winning records" do not always equate to contenders.

Once we complete our annual Big East conference games collapse, let's hope we look in new direction and that the school decides to actually invest in the program again. With that being said, let's start naming coach options. They can range from realistic to reaches.  Basically, it is an opportunity for us to discuss and bring to light some names.

You seem like a nice boy and earnest enough, so I'll answer you in good faith, as opposed to calling you names for being such a dumbass.

1. No coach in his right mind will move down or laterally to St John's. Not a one, because St John's is where coaching careers come to die and has been since Lou retired. Mahoney, Fran, Jarvis and Mullins are out of coaching; the remaining former coach, Steve Lavin, is 7 and 7 at San Diego. The only successful former St John's coach is Norm Roberts, who's been to several final fours since he got the hell out of Queens. Personally I'd not be opposed to bringing Roberts back: Norm II, This Time It's Personal.

Recall: Bobby Hurley played Cragg for a fool and midwestern mediocrity Porter Moser laughed in Cragg's face. Ryan Odom and Tim Cluess said please please please don't offer me the job. The only coach who didn't take himself out of consideration was Tom Pecora, Pecora being the one bullet St John's has dodged in my lifetime.

2. Pitino no, because Pitino to Georgetown is a lock. I know this because I started the Pitino to Georgetown rumor myself on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and it's been gathering steam since then. Even exquisitely stupid RDC poster Fordham repeated it recently and he pretends to be a well-connected college basketball insider. Not to mention that Pitino's a fornicator and is going to hell. And as for GSJ, why would he leave the Lakers for Queens. Exactly, he wouldn't.

3. So who's left? People out of coaching looking to get back in and mid-majors looking to move up. Chris Mack tops the list of the former, but when Chris Mack wants to come back he'll get better offers than St John's. Who's left of that group who's high enough profile to make a difference at this shit program? PJ Carlesimo (that was a joke for those of you scoring at home), Billy Donovan (as opposed to me being dead cereal), Stan Heath, Buzz Williams, Billy Gillespie, Ben Howland. Anyone I missed? And to the extent that I did, why would they come to SJU?

4. Mid majors looking to move up are a crap shoot, except where they move into a legacy program, like Shaka and Neptune and Shaheen Holloway and they've already been hired. There's Drew Valentine, but he's waiting for Stubblefield's job. Speedy Claxton has local pedigree, but his year two is every band's second record, e.g., it stinks. So who's left? Matt Langel and Austin Claunch. And they'll probably go somewhere and do well. But can you imagine Austin Claunch competing with Sean Miller, Thad Matta and Dan Hurley? Yeah, me neither.

5. Prediction: relying on his long-standing relationship Cragg as fetcher of coffee convinces Scrhewshrenski to come out of retirement and lead St John's back to prominence.

Will the public apology to Mullin about the way he was treated during his return here come in the form of a formal press release from the university or consist of individual admissions of guilt from our disloyal fan base?

You guys are insane. You are like a crazy woman who gets married every 4-5 years and doesn’t realize she’s the common denominator.

What is the point of firing yet another NIT caliber coach if we don’t change something drastically?

The only way to do it different than the last seemingly 100 firings/hirings is to get Rick Pitino. That’s it. And why would he want to come here? Who would want to coach at this coaching graveyard? We were embarrassed on a National stage last time around.

Who cares if you don’t like him? Get over it. We are 10 years away from getting booted from the Big East—maybe less if another conference swallows up Nova, Uconn, etc.

Will the public apology to Mullin about the way he was treated during his return here come in the form of a formal press release from the university or consist of individual admissions of guilt from our disloyal fan base?

This.

We got any former players out there coaching these days?

We got any former players out there coaching these days?

Maybe high school 

This.

This?

So the priority for St John's fan base - which for 30 years has been treated to a conga line of coaching incompetents by a parade of buffoonish administrators, in the midst of a season that's by early January spiraling down the toilet towards complete rebuild number six - should be to apologize one by one to Chris Mullin, himself four years removed from coaching incompetence.

I understand why Carmine would think this, he's any imbecile. What's your excuse?

This?

So the priority for St John's fan base - which for 30 years has been treated to a conga line of coaching incompetents by a parade of buffoonish administrators, in the midst of a season that's by early January spiraling down the toilet towards complete rebuild number six - should be to apologize one by one to Chris Mullin, himself four years removed from coaching incompetence.

I understand why Carmine would think this, he's any imbecile. What's your excuse?

I think Mullin was dealt a shitty hand here. Some of it his doing of course. I also feel that alot of the vitriol was because of a certain newspaper squire that was constantly leaking one-sided information. Fans attacked his wife and kids constantly. Maybe fans realize now that winning in Jamiaca, Queens isn't as easy as they think.

I think Mullin was dealt a shitty hand here. Some of it his doing of course. I also feel that alot of the vitriol was because of a certain newspaper squire that was constantly leaking one-sided information. Fans attacked his wife and kids constantly. Maybe fans realize now that winning in Jamiaca, Queens isn't as easy as they think.

I don't disagree with any of that. I disagree with the idea that the fans owe him an apology, which is ludicrous. He got paid 10 million dollars to be mediocre. If anything he owes me an apology.

If given the opportunity would dopey Mike Cragg would go back in time and extend Mullin and let him hire Mike Rice as an assistant. I know I would.

You seem like a nice boy and earnest enough, so I'll answer you in good faith, as opposed to calling you names for being such a dumbass.

1. No coach in his right mind will move down or laterally to St John's. Not a one, because St John's is where coaching careers come to die and has been since Lou retired. Mahoney, Fran, Jarvis and Mullins are out of coaching; the remaining former coach, Steve Lavin, is 7 and 7 at San Diego. The only successful former St John's coach is Norm Roberts, who's been to several final fours since he got the hell out of Queens. Personally I'd not be opposed to bringing Roberts back: Norm II, This Time It's Personal.

Recall: Bobby Hurley played Cragg for a fool and midwestern mediocrity Porter Moser laughed in Cragg's face. Ryan Odom and Tim Cluess said please please please don't offer me the job. The only coach who didn't take himself out of consideration was Tom Pecora, Pecora being the one bullet St John's has dodged in my lifetime.

2. Pitino no, because Pitino to Georgetown is a lock. I know this because I started the Pitino to Georgetown rumor myself on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and it's been gathering steam since then. Even exquisitely stupid RDC poster Fordham repeated it recently and he pretends to be a well-connected college basketball insider. Not to mention that Pitino's a fornicator and is going to hell. And as for GSJ, why would he leave the Lakers for Queens. Exactly, he wouldn't.

3. So who's left? People out of coaching looking to get back in and mid-majors looking to move up. Chris Mack tops the list of the former, but when Chris Mack wants to come back he'll get better offers than St John's. Who's left of that group who's high enough profile to make a difference at this shit program? PJ Carlesimo (that was a joke for those of you scoring at home), Billy Donovan (as opposed to me being dead cereal), Stan Heath, Buzz Williams, Billy Gillespie, Ben Howland. Anyone I missed? And to the extent that I did, why would they come to SJU?

4. Mid majors looking to move up are a crap shoot, except where they move into a legacy program, like Shaka and Neptune and Shaheen Holloway and they've already been hired. There's Drew Valentine, but he's waiting for Stubblefield's job. Speedy Claxton has local pedigree, but his year two is every band's second record, e.g., it stinks. So who's left? Matt Langel and Austin Claunch. And they'll probably go somewhere and do well. But can you imagine Austin Claunch competing with Sean Miller, Thad Matta and Dan Hurley? Yeah, me neither.

5. Prediction: relying on his long-standing relationship Cragg as fetcher of coffee convinces Scrhewshrenski to come out of retirement and lead St John's back to prominence.

You make some good points here. I completely forgot about Mack and Howland may be good to see what they want if we don't get Pitino. Buzz and Thad aren't leaving their current gigs for the HS gym that is Carnesecca Arena. The point in this is finding an established and proven successful coach not the mediocrity. If we got Pitino would be his last stop and maybe, he can have someone in the wings.

Right now, the state of this program is unacceptable. Unacceptable to the students, the alumni and the fans. It further tarnishes the image of this school if it was not tarnished already.

Just look- since Anderson took over our MSG games have gone down. We just don't sell anymore. Our recruiting has been mediocre at best.

I think Mullin was dealt a shitty hand here. Some of it his doing of course. I also feel that alot of the vitriol was because of a certain newspaper squire that was constantly leaking one-sided information. Fans attacked his wife and kids constantly. Maybe fans realize now that winning in Jamiaca, Queens isn't as easy as they think.

The shitty hand dealt Mullin was the outlandish offer and contract to become coach after never having coached a CYO team.  There was never any upside to him taking the job.

Steve Pikiell was at Stony Brook right down 495 and didn't even get a call from our incompetent administration.

As for Mullin's family difficulties, it was public knowledge.
After just one year he sold his Long Island multi million dollar home and moved into a hotel in Manhattan.
His wife moved back to California for the sake of a petulant kid and Mullin became bi-coastal.  Not exactly the look of a long term coach!
Then there was the Slice fiasco that cost St. John's 6 million dollars for a no show job.
In short, Mullin was the worst hire in college basketball history......not just at St. John's.

The shitty hand dealt Mullin was the outlandish offer and contract to become coach after never having coached a CYO team.  There was never any upside to him taking the job.

Steve Pikiell was at Stony Brook right down 495 and didn't even get a call from our incompetent administration.

As for Mullin's family difficulties, it was public knowledge.
After just one year he sold his Long Island multi million dollar home and moved into a hotel in Manhattan.
His wife moved back to California for the sake of a petulant kid and Mullin became bi-coastal.  Not exactly the look of a long term coach!
Then there was the Slice fiasco that cost St. John's 6 million dollars for a no show job.
In short, Mullin was the worst hire in college basketball history......not just at St. John's.

The worst hire in history? LoL you're a clown.
NCAA after 4 years when he inherited dog shit
Sold out games
National buzz
Got better every year
Top 100 recruits


No AD & ancient administration.
A President that was failing.
Kids didn't even have full meal plans. School wouldn't pay to keep a strength and conditioning coach.

 Was he at fault for many things? Absolutely.

But I bet you think this way because Zach Braziller and some "insiders" at Redmen.com told you to.

The worst hire in history? LoL you're a clown.
NCAA after 4 years when he inherited dog shit
Sold out games
National buzz
Got better every year
Top 100 recruits


No AD & ancient administration.
A President that was failing.
Kids didn't even have full meal plans. School wouldn't pay to keep a strength and conditioning coach.

 Was he at fault for certain things? Aboa very friendly personely he was.

But I bet you think this way because Zach Braziller and some "insiders" at Redmen.com told you to.

and while the kids were starving with their less than full meal plans over the summer "their coach" was three thousand miles away walking the beaches of Cali in his flip flops. Coaching college basketball is a 12 month a year job it is not seasonal employment.

The worst hire in history? LoL you're a clown.
NCAA after 4 years when he inherited dog shit
Sold out games
National buzz
Got better every year
Top 100 recruits


No AD & ancient administration.
A President that was failing.
Kids didn't even have full meal plans. School wouldn't pay to keep a strength and conditioning coach.

 Was he at fault for many things? Absolutely.

But I bet you think this way because Zach Braziller and some "insiders" at Redmen.com told you to.

I think this way because I loved Chris Mullin as a player and knew Chris Mullin was set up to fail by those who should have looked to preserve his legacy and instead made him look incompetent in the game he loved. 

As for facts, Mullin had 4 straight Big East losing seasons.
He won only 20 Big East games over 4 years. He stopped recruiting and was rarely seen in metropolitan area HS gyms after his first year as coach.  He depended on a 26 year kid for X and O during games and his entire crew was made up of California cronies.
He was a complete failure and don't be fooled by getting the last NCAA bid and quickly losing the play in game.

I would agree that we are cursed, and that whoever we hire will fail.

But then again, I said that about Rutgers, and look at them now.

Who do we we want?
Who would come here? That’s really the question.

We’ve been talking about Pitino since the 90s. It’s a dream, but then again, he’s coaching Iona.

Fran McCaffrey is a name I haven’t heard. Not saying he’s a realistic choice, but maybe he’d like to come back to NY?

Jared Grasso is the only young coach that I’m familiar with, and he stands out for his recruiting. Not so much his coaching. To me, his ceiling is Fran Fraschilla.

Mark Jackson would be an incredibly reckless hire, but it would also be such a typical St.John’s move.

Richard Pitino is doing well at New Mexico. Very well, actually. Don’t know much about his coaching ability or demeanor, but he’s winning at a place that doesn’t win.

 

I would agree that we are cursed, and that whoever we hire will fail.

But then again, I said that about Rutgers, and look at them now.

Who do we we want?
Who would come here? That’s really the question.

We’ve been talking about Pitino since the 90s. It’s a dream, but then again, he’s coaching Iona.

Fran McCaffrey is a name I haven’t heard. Not saying he’s a realistic choice, but maybe he’d like to come back to NY?

Jared Grasso is the only young coach that I’m familiar with, and he stands out for his recruiting. Not so much his coaching. To me, his ceiling is Fran Fraschilla.

Mark Jackson would be an incredibly reckless hire, but it would also be such a typical St.John’s move.

Richard Pitino is doing well at New Mexico. Very well, actually. Don’t know much about his coaching ability or demeanor, but he’s winning at a place that doesn’t win.

It won't happen of course because we don't have the guts to call up Repole or another big donor to get it done, but I am just curious if by some miracle Mark Jackson would be open to come, why that would be reckless?  He won at Golden State and his style would fit the college game. We know he knows the game and is a proven winner.

Rick Pitino- is not far right now in Iona, it just takes the will on our end. Its a slam dunk even if its only for 3-4 years and he builds a great staff to take over. The point is - we would be respected and relevant again.

Richard Pitino- did not do great at Minnesota and in his second season in a mid-major is doing well (first season not so much). I don't think he would be better than Anderson here.

Other names to try for- Howland and Mack. Preference for me is Mack. He will know how to compete against the likes of Xavier and Butler. He has a better post-season track record than Anderson too.

It won't happen of course because we don't have the guts to call up Repole or another big donor to get it done, but I am just curious if by some miracle Mark Jackson would be open to come, why that would be reckless?  He won at Golden State and his style would fit the college game. We know he knows the game and is a proven winner.

Rick Pitino- is not far right now in Iona, it just takes the will on our end. Its a slam dunk even if its only for 3-4 years and he builds a great staff to take over. The point is - we would be respected and relevant again.

Richard Pitino- did not do great at Minnesota and in his second season in a mid-major is doing well (first season not so much). I don't think he would be better than Anderson here.

Other names to try for- Howland and Mack. Preference for me is Mack. He will know how to compete against the likes of Xavier and Butler. He has a better post-season track record than Anderson too.

No offense, but you're looking at this backwards. You think: I am a St John's fan, I want St John's to win, if Pitino comes here St John's will likely win, therefore everyone up to and including Mike Repole should make that happen.

Look at it the other way: why would Rick Pitino, widely regarded as one of the great coaches in all of basketball history, want to come to St John's - a school that has spurned him on multiple occasions - where he can only tarnish his reputation by losing like every other St John's coach has since Carnesseca. He doesn't need the money and already has the legacy. If I were Pitino I'd go to Georgetown - a school with a much more impressive recent history than St John's: Thompson, Ewing, Iverson, Mourning, Mutumbo; four final fours and eleven sweet sixteens in 40 odd years - and rub St John's face in it. And now Texas is in the mix, and Texas has lots of money to throw at coaches and players and something of a lax attitude towards lack of institutional control by serial fornicators.

The other problem is Cragg. He screwed up the last search - St John's came thisclose to head coach James Jones - and ended up with never-was Mike Anderson based upon a recommendation from never-will-be Jeff Capel, who he then after a single winning season extended to the tune of 10 or 15 million dollars. If Cragg fires Anderson he's admitting that the first major decision he's made in his career - which up until then comprised fetching Mike Screwshrenski's coffee - was completely bolloxed; and dopes like Cragg don't get to where they are by acknowledging their mistakes. They get there by blaming the other guy. Whereas if he fires Anderson he puts his own head on the chopping block.

The only near term solution I see is that Anderson quits and if you're Anderson - and you've been exposed as a clueless buffoon - would you walk away from 10 million dollars? Even he's not that stupid.

Look at it the other way: why would Rick Pitino, widely regarded as one of the great coaches in all of basketball history, want to come to St John's - a school that has spurned him on multiple occasions - where he can only tarnish his reputation by losing like every other St John's coach has since Carnesseca. He doesn't need the money and already has the legacy.

This is the only question. I ultimately think he doesn’t come here, but he and his wife are from the NYC area, they have an apartment in Manhattan and family all over the area, he’s apparently close with Repole, and he loves the ponies. You could also flip the fact that nobody succeeds here as the ultimate challenge and the cherry on top of a stellar resume.

I don’t know why anyone would come here, but he seems to be the most realistic of any decent choice due to his past transgressions and his age.

Sadly, I think we win 4 in a row here soon and Anderson does just enough to stay on.

This is the only question. I ultimately think he doesn’t come here, but he and his wife are from the NYC area, they have an apartment in Manhattan and family all over the area, he’s apparently close with Repole, and he loves the ponies. You could also flip the fact that nobody succeeds here as the ultimate challenge and the cherry on top of a stellar resume.

I don’t know why anyone would come here, but he seems to be the most realistic of any decent choice due to his past transgressions and his age.

Sadly, I think we win 4 in a row here soon and Anderson does just enough to stay on.

Rick and his wife Joanne currently reside in Mamaroneck near the Iona campus. They own various real estate and are easily worth over 60 million dollars.  They are from Oyster Bay and his wife loves New York.  Personally, I don't see them having any interest in moving to the Washington DC area at this stage of their lives. I could see them at an estate in Brookville near golf and horse stables.

It would take over $5 million to get Pitino and would need a deep pocketed donor to support the Anderson buy-out.
I don't see this team making a post season run and while they may have a few unexpected wins they just lack the players that can carry them into post season.

Of course we all want our team to win but being unmarketable in NYC is a present reality.  It is just not about losing games.  It is about losing NYC area marketability that can camouflage the stagnant educational ranking that dissuades many area scholars.

St. John's has a respectable $700 million endowment and it needs to radically improve its rankings to grow that amount and getting the university back on the national basketball map should be part of the formula.

You have to spend money to become better.