5 St. John’s Stories From Last Season That May Carry Over

Steve Lavin Still Having Troubles

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This isn’t Steve Lavin having on the court troubles. It has more to do with the head coach having a slew of off-the-court issues seemingly hurled towards him every season.

Not only has he battled cancer during his stint with the Red Storm, but last season also saw him lose his father. The two — like most fathers and sons (we hope) — were close. Steve Lavin considered his father his greatest role model and the loss certainly took a toll on him.

All of that is a lot for one man to go through. Nevertheless a guy who is trying to make a once historical program a national player again. Couple the pressure that comes with that and a coach who battled cancer, then won that fight, only to lose his father shortly after and it would make a lesser man fall to pieces.

Lavin isn’t a lesser man. He still continued to press on with his smile and be a class act throughout the whole ordeal. In the interest of full disclosure, I have always been a fan of Lavin — even when he was with the UCLA Bruins. I’ve become an even huger fan after the way he has handled everything that has gone his way. I am also more positive than ever that he will be the coach to take the Johnnies back to a place where they are big time players in the Big East Conference as well as major factors in the NCAA Tournament.

Still, because folks are impatient, it is important that Lavin parlays his recruiting success to victories this season. He has had a few recruiting classes, which scouting sites call “good classes”, so winning seems like it should come naturally. If he were not, however, you can fully expect the uneducated folks to call for his head on a stick.