I agree with you PMG but I still think he is a good recruiter. When you have no proven track record as a coach and come to a school in the situation of St. John's you aren't going to land the big recruits right away. He needed to win right away to establish something and he has failed as a coach which has hindered his results in recruiting. I think if he won this year or next we'd see some recruits changing their mind about St. John's but this didn't happen nor do I see it happening.
I do think Paris and DJ will be nice contributors to this team within their 4 years.
JJ I hear you...when Norm came in he was facing an impossible situation. I didn't expect much the first 2 years...but coaching is a tough business and he really needed to land a quality third class. Thomas Calhoun Kitchen Patterson and Wright was an okay class but only 2 of the 5 are still here...one is coming off major surgery and Norm has been unable to get the most out of Wright. (though he did improve quite a bit from his freshman year)
I have some hope for this Freshman class but we need some higher level players to fill out the roster. And all signs point to Norm not being able to bring them in. IMO Norm's last chance rested on the 2008 class and he got shutout. Unfortunately I think it all goes back to Wiggins...Norm found a diamond in the rough and apparently didn't pay enough attention to Harvey or Grant (who had SJU as his dream school) or another PG and we ended up with none in that class when Wiggins screwed us. Now we only have one PG on the roster for next year. Not good.
I patiently waited for this year to see what Norm could do. I wasn't expecting a great record because of having a young team but waited to see how the team played and to see the potential of the recruits. I like some of the players he has brought in but the coaching issues, substitutions, and combinations of lineups are puzzling. Doc Butler's post says it all better than I ever could...I truly was rooting for Norm as much as anyone and it pains me to say that its time for St. John's to move on. I think the quotes we've seen from Norm and the interview on the FAN point to Norm feeling the heat too.