I normally cruise thru message boards all around the nation. Johnny Jungle is one of the better boards, as the fans are well informed and have a good understanding of what's needed to get done to put st johns basketball back on the national landscape. Securing nine or ten players wasnt goin to be a hard thing for coach lavin, as stjohns put together such a strong staff featuring top recruiters and former nba personnel. That wasnt the issue, the issue was putting together nine or ten guys who could compete at the highest level and represent the school as mature freshmen on and off the court. No headaches, no issues, and of course it didnt happen..
St johns like Kansas, TCU, and others didnt have kids clear thru the ncaa based off academics. Not really speaking from where some people on here think its a mentors/aau/adivors/college coaches fault. Fact is, most of the problem comes from the players themselves. The problem i've seen in basketball throughout the years is a majority of d1 football and basketball athletes started out unknown. Which means they arent on anybody's radar, nobody is stressing to them the importance of taking the "right classes" to qualify and every class counts.
Its a little harder to explain since im so close to these type of situations on a daily basis. I know of a kid who i recently been told he's a junior who needs 14core classes and he has a B average! I think coach lavin and his staff are doing a great job with last years squad and they will continue with this years squad. In the end, one team will win a championship every season... Oneday it soon it will be st johns and alot of people hate that, but know its a fact. There are always bumps on the road to success. This isnt as much as a pothole as you may think.
Im a fan just like you guys, St johns is americas most hated, just because they see the direction of the program. So what if a kid decommitts or doesnt qualify, its going to happen. Im looking forward to the first day of practice and this season. Like a guy said to me two days ago, you cant tell this staff that has 8 guys they arent going to get into the ncaa's... Those are the type of people you want representing your school, when they step inside a kids home.
I hope you guys enjoy the season, and i look forward to seeing all the players progress and taking it day by day.