Steve Lavin Officially Named St. John's New Head Coach

The speculation is now official: Steve Lavin is the new head coach at St. John's. Lavin, who occupied the same role at UCLA for seven seasons (from 1996-2003), was introduced on Tuesday.

"Today is the start of a new era in the venerable history of St. John's basketball," [Director of Athletics Chris] Monasch said. "Steve brings the skill set and persona that we feel gives us a chance to compete at the highest level in the BIG EAST. Since Coach Lavin was unveiled as a candidate, you could feel the excitement throughout the city. St. John's is poised to recapture its legacy as New York's college team."

While at UCLA, Lavin took the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament in six consecutive seasons, and finished with an overall record of 145-78.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to return to the sidelines coaching college basketball at a school like St. John's that has such tradition and heritage in terms of the history of basketball," Lavin said. "Then you add the academic dimension, as well as New York City and Madison Square Garden, it's as good as it gets.

According to New York Post writer Lenn Robbins, Steve Lavin will become the new head coach of St. John’s basketball on Tuesday. Lavin hasn’t coached since 2003 when he was fired by UCLA, where the fans there seem to think St. John's is making a massive mistake by potentially hiring Lavin.

We can assume that Steve Lavin has a higher opinion of the St. John’s job than Matt Doherty does.

St. John's may have finally stumbled onto someone suited to resurrecting the prospects of their once-proud program: Steve Lavin. According to CBS Sports, the school has set up an interview with the former UCLA head coach and current ESPN analyst about filling their vacant head coaching job.

Lavin has worked as an analyst for ESPN after getting axed at UCLA in 2003. It's always been puzzling that Lavin has never gotten another chance as a head coach, given that he was fired after suffering one bad season, preceded by six stellar ones. Part of that may be due to the fact that he was happy with his ESPN gig, but still, it's unfathomable that more teams haven't been beating down his door given his track record. Indeed, from 1997 to 2002, Lavin navigated the Bruins to six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and five Sweet 16 showings, including a run to the Elite Eight in 1997. Lavin was also a top-notch recruiter, bringing home top overall recruiting classes in 1998 and 2001.

Compared to the other names St. John's has reportedly been linked to in it's coaching search -- Billy Donovan, Paul Hewitt and Al Skinner -- Lavin would be a coup. Donovan was never going to leave Florida for what St. John's offered, Hewitt has been disappointing at Georgia Tech outside of 2004 when they made an improbable run to the championship game, and Skinner has done a solid if unspectacular job at Boston College. None of those other names, however, have had the type of sustained success Lavin had at UCLA (not even Donovan, who's Florida teams have been plagued by early tournament exits aside from the 1999 and 2006-7 teams). While five Sweet 16s in six years may not have been good enough for the legacy of John Wooden, that would certainly seem like the promised land for a St. John's program that hasn't even been to the NCAA tournament since 2002.

And while Lavin doesn't have any ties to the New York area, he can ask former St. John's coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla for any pointers in the meantime.

Fresh off being spurned by Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, St. John's has reportedly turned to another somewhat unexpected face in their coaching search. According to the Boston Globe, Boston College's Al Skinner will interview with St. John's on Friday afternoon.

Skinner had a down year this past season, going 15-16 and 6-10 in the ACC. Prior to 2010 the Eagles had enjoyed a decently successful run, making the Sweet 16 in 2006, the second round in 2007, and the NCAA tournament in 2009. Skinner is reportedly an attractive candidate for St. John's due to his ties to New York, where he grew up.

Additionally, Skinner is more than familiar with the Big East, considering that BC used to play in the conference before moving to the ACC several years ago. There's no word on what, if any, other candidates St. John's is seriously considering at this juncture.

Fresh off the firing of Norm Roberts, St. John's can cross another name off its coaching wish-list: Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt. According to ESPN's Andy Katz, Hewitt has declined an offer to coach St. John's, and will return to Georgia Tech.

Hewitt would have been a somewhat puzzling choice for St. John's given his own struggles at Georgia Tech. While Hewitt has established himself as a recruiter par excellence, he has very rarely translated that talent into consistent success on the court, outside of a run to the 2004 championship game.

St. Johns was previously connected with Florida coach Billy Donovan, who the school reportedly offered $3 million a year to come coach in New York (which would have been a half million dollar cut on his salary at Florida). Katz speculates that Virgina Tech's Seth Greenberg and Cornell's Steve Donahue are the next likely candidates for St. John's.