Media Stories for West Virginia 12-29-2010

Lavin set to earn stripes in Big East [NY Post]

There was never any doubt, even when St. John's won two regular-season tournaments and suffered two horrific non-conference losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham, that the Red Storm's quest to gain its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002 would go through the Big East Conference schedule.

After the pluses and minuses that came as St. John's opened 7-3 in non-conference play, the march to March begins tonight at West Virginia. The league opener for both teams figures to be a brutally physical affair, even by Big East standards.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/lavin_set_to_earn_stripes_in_big_QQKBkTpUYwW5nhji6x6uhM#ixzz19VNAanmT

St. John's basketball coach Steve Lavin likes what he sees in Dwayne Polee II, ready for Big East [NY Daily News]

New coach Steve Lavin and St. John's had some growing pains earlier this month, but they seem to have emerged from them. The disappointing upset losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham laid the Red Storm low, but the Johnnies bounced back with a victory over a solid Davidson team and top-tier Big Ten squad Northwestern to win the Holiday Festival.

There's a lot of optimism that the Johnnies (7-3) have left the bad days behind them as they enter Big East play Wednesday night at West Virginia (8-2). "We're ready," senior Justin Brownlee said after the victory over Northwestern last week.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_st_johns_lavin_sees_polee_vault.html#ixzz19VNRGbIa

Storm faces tough test in West Virginia [Newsday Blog]

Now that the fun and games of the preseason are over, it’s time for St. John’s to show the college basketball world just how much better they really are.

The Red Storm (7-3) showed a lot of moxie in their 85-69 over a previously unbeaten Northwestern team at the Holiday Festival. St. John’s shot 80 percent in the second half in that game.

But they face a totally different animal in the West Virginia Mountaineers in their Big East opener on Wednesday night. It is likely to be an eye-opening experience for freshman Dwayne Polee Jr.

“I feel confident going into the Big East,” Polee Jr. said. “I've got my teammates behind me and I've got their support. So I'm just looking to have a good freshman year.”

Read More:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-hoops-scoops-1.1620561/storm-faces-tough-test-in-west-virginia-1.2574644

WVU's Big East basketball play starts tonight vs. St. John's [Charleston Gazette]


With the season of gift giving behind them, West Virginia's Mountaineer basketball team is ready to open the Big East season.

After playing a rather meaningless exhibition against Walsh on Dec. 22, WVU took a break before reassembling on Christmas night. The Mountaineers haven't played a game that counts since defeating Cleveland State on Dec. 18.

Today, West Virginia (8-2) plays host to Big East peer St. John's (7-3) in a 7 p.m. game at the Coliseum. The game will be televised by the Big East Network and shown locally by WCHS.

Read More:
http://sundaygazettemail.com/Sports/201012281028

Thanks JJ! Read them all with breakfast this morning.

He was talking about the Red Storm's frontcourt - not the snow blanketing St. John's campus - as erstwhile UCLA coach and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin coaches his Big East Conference debut tonight at the WVU Coliseum.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. (WCHS telecast) for the Mountaineers' 2010-11 Big East opener.

West Virginia has beaten St. John's 10 consecutive times, a streak that started in 2003-04. That's the Mountaineers' longest run of success against any foe in WVU's 15-season Big East history. Lavin was hired from Brent Musburger's and Dave O'Brien's sides to change things like that.

"Lav has done a great job there in getting them organized and getting them to buy in," Huggins said Tuesday. "They have great depth. When you bring in a (guard) Paris Horne off the bench, that says something.

"I don't think anyone in our league has three centers like they do in (6-foot-10 Dele) Coker, (6-8 Sean) Evans and (6-8) Justin Burrell.

"Nobody has that kind of depth there."

More: http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/201012280817

The St. John’s Red Storm (7-3, 0-0 Big East) will enter the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday night for their conference opener as well. The Red Storm seem to be revitalized ever since former UCLA head coach and ESPN color commentator Steve Lavin inked a deal during the offseason to become the next head coach at St. John’s.

Huggins is quite knowledgeable of Lavin’s coaching style.

“Lav is a good guy – he’s a good guy and Lav is one of those guys, you know – you have coaches that are kind of the throw back; kind of hardcore – ‘by god we’re going to play man and we’re going to get in and lock you up,’” said Huggins. “Well, Lav is a guy who isn’t afraid to change, and they’ll play a lot of things. They’ll play some 1-3-1, they’ll play some 2-3, they’ll play some man-to-man run and jump, they’ll press a little, they’ll zone you. They’ll just do a lot of different things and he’s kind of one of those guys who just keeps throwing things out there until he finds something that works.”

The style of adapting to other teams strengths and weaknesses has made Lavin the coach he is today. His reputation as a college basketball analyst for ESPN during the last seven years has certainly made Lavin into a hot commodity after being let go by UCLA following the 2003 season.

Lavin offers an experienced group of Johnnie’s on this year’s roster, including a total of nine seniors for the Red Storm. Pittsburgh, Pa. native D.J. Kennedy has undoubtedly been the most talked about player on Lavin’s squad in his first year at the helm. During his four years at St. John’s, Kennedy has averaged 12 points per contest, but it’s his leadership that headlines his abilities as a senior guard.

More: http://www.wvillustrated.com/wvubasketball/story/id/633

First-year head coach Steve Lavin is matching line-ups much like West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins in an effort to find the best mix of talent and execution for a senior-laden Red Storm squad. Lavin, who spent several years as an ESPN analyst after coaching UCLA, has immediately boosted the skill level in Queens, where SJU has struggled for years to capitalize on getting the best out of the New York City area. The lone player to start all 10 games is guard Dwight Hardy (6-2, 196 lbs.). The upperclassmen averages a team-best 15.5 points with about three boards per game. Hardy, SJU’s two-man, is an excellent shooter who has yet to hone in this season. He is making just 29 percent (18 of 62) from three-point range, where more than half of his shots are taken. He is deadly from the line at 87.8 percent, and his quickness off the dribble to access the lane and get into defenders enables him to get there often. His athleticism carries onto the defensive side as well, where he has a team-best 15 steals.

More: http://westvirginia.scout.com/2/1034618.html

Hardy, after a slow start, has averaged 22.5 points per game over the team's past four games. Brownlee is second on the team at 14.1 points per game for the season, and is shooting 57.4 percent from the field. And Kennedy has also picked it up of late, averaging 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in the team's past three games.

West Virginia, winner of three in a row, is led by Casey Mitchell -- a 6-foot-4 senior who played only eight minutes per game last season, his first in Morgantown after transferring from a junior college. Mitchell has exploded this year, averaging 17.5 points per game, despite struggling with finger injuries on both hands in recent weeks. Mitchell has had several very big performances this season, including scoring 31 in a win over Vanderbilt, and 27 in a four-point loss to Minnesota. (West Virginia's other loss was to Miami, by three.)
Another key player for the Mountaineers is Kevin Jones. The 6-foot-8 junior forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., is second on the team in both scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg).

More: http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkcolleges/post/_/id/1212/st-johns-at-west-virginia-a-preview