Mo Hicks

When Steve Lavin was first hired it was well known that he had intentions of putting together an All-Star staff. Slowly but surely it has taken form with the hiring of Tony Chiles, Rico Hines, and Derrick Wrobel.

Lavin stated in his press conference when he was announced as St. John’s 19th head coach:

“In terms of staff, clearly I want to put in place talented, capable, hard-working and loyal assistant coaches. It’s critical that they have a familiarity not only with New York, and have an understanding of the unique dynamic of recruiting in this city at all levels, but also the Northeast. So assistant coaches that are familiar with the BIG EAST, the ACC — those recruiting territories are critical.

Naturally, in terms of Southern California, the West Coast, the Midwest, I’ve had experience in the Midwest as an assistant at Purdue and also covering the Big 10 for ESPN for seven years. So that part of the country I’m very familiar with and the West Coast is where I grew up and spent 12 years at UCLA. But don’t be mistaken, when you’re at UCLA, you’re recruiting coast-to-coast and you’re recruiting internationally.”

Lavin hired a trio of coaches with experience and contacts in many parts of the country. But Mike Dunlap was supposed to be the missing piece, the X and O tactician. But the deal hit some snags after it was prematurely reported on the JohnnyJungle.com that the deal was done.

Dunlap entertained some head coaching jobs in the interim, chasing the Oregon and Colorado positions but wasn’t hired for either.

St. John’s fans have been growing impatient, waiting to hear some news about both Mike Dunlap and Mo Hicks. They will have to keep waiting… until June 1st when they will both officially be announced as members of Steve Lavin’s staff, according to a source close to St. John’s Basketball program.

Dunlap will become one of if not the highest paid assistant coach in NCAA basketball while Mo Hicks will likely be one of the higher paid DOBO’s in the country as well.

According to sources, the deal took longer than expected as St. John’s administrators operated very cautiously taking their due diligence in signing off on the high salaries of both coaches. But ultimately Steve Lavin got who and what he wanted.

When I told a source from the University of Arizona about the Dunlap deal being finalized he said, “[Dunlap] should be a head coach so he’s worth every penny. He’ll be the perfect compliment to (Steve) Lavin.”

The Red Storm still has one missing piece; the Video Coordinator as the last available spot on the staff.

Keep reading JohnnyJungle.com for all the latest news regarding St. John’s Basketball.

Updated 5/19/10 1:00 AM The New York Gauchos have confirmed the hire of Billy Singleton on their Twitter.

Since Maurice Hicks is taking the Director of Basketball operations job at St. John’s that leaves an opening for the New York Gauchos. The buzz around New York is that Billy Singleton is currently the favorite to take the position.

Singleton became the Director of Basketball operations under Norm Roberts in September of 2007. Singleton was a standout player for the Redstorm and graduated from the University in 1991. Singleton was a three-year letter winner at St. John’s and co-captain as a senior in 1991, playing for Hall of Fame Coach Lou Carnesecca and alongside greats such as Malik Sealy, Jayson Williams, Jason Buchanan and Robert Werdann. He played in 96 career contests, averaging 8.7 points per game and 5.7 rebounds with a .478 field goal percentage. He was a member of the 1989 St. John’s NIT Championship team, and is notably remembered for joining Sealy in carrying Carnesecca off the court following the coach’s 500th career win on Feb. 2, 1991.

Following commencement from St. John’s, Singleton enjoyed a 16-year playing career abroad, with stints in Australia, France, Uruguay, Ireland, Chile, Israel, Cyprus and most notably, England, where he remains among the British Basketball League’s (BBL) all-time scoring leaders. Singleton spent a combined 13 seasons playing in the BBL, capturing the league’s championship with the Leicester Raiders, Cheshire Jets and Scottish Rocks.

After spending one season as an assistant coach with the BBL’s Cheshire Jets, Singleton spent the 2005-07 seasons as head coach. With Cheshire, he was responsible for all on-court operations of the club, including: team selection, player development, practice and game preparation while also managing the team’s budget.

A native of the Bronx, Singleton attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School. He is the nephew of current Philadelphia 76ers television analyst Ed Pinckney, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1985 Final Four with Villanova before a 12-year NBA career.

Singleton has had long ties with the Gauchos organization so the move would make a lot of sense and would beneficial for St. John’s in the NYC recruiting wars.

Keep reading JohnnyJungle.com for all latest news regarding St. John’s Basketball.

*Singleton’s bio copied from RedStormSports.com

Mo Money and Dunlap

Billy Singleton to the Gauchos