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ST. JOHN'S Team Report

By The Sports Xchange
8/23/2004
 
NOTES, QUOTES

PROGRAM OVERVIEW: This program is a long, long, long way from the glory days of Walter Berry and Chris Mullin, or even from the brief Erick Barkley-Bootsy Thornton era. Suspensions, expulsions, transfers and graduation have left this team bereft of much in the way of talent, and the off-court scandals eroded much of the credibility the program once had.

Norm Roberts begins with a clean slate -- literally and figuratively. Not many players remain from last year's disaster of a squad, and even the biggest Red Storm booster knows that the team isn't likely to contend for an NCAA berth for at least a couple of years. Roberts will get the chance to put his stamp on a program that has been floundering for years, but he'll have to do it amid the scrutiny of the biggest media market in the world.

Roberts hired former Central Connecticut State assistant Chris Casey as St. John's director of basketball operations. Casey joins Fred Quartelbaum, Glenn Braica and Jose "Chuckie" Martin as members of Roberts' staff.

St. John's has renamed its basketball court at Alumni Hall the Carnesecca Court after legendary coach Lou Carnesecca.

Carnesecca coached St. John's for 24 seasons and guided the team to the postseason every year, reaching the NCAA Tournament 18 times and the NIT on six occasions. He has an all-time record of 526-200 for a winning percentage of .725. Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, Carnesecca led St. John's to the 1985 Final Four, to the East Regional Final in 1979, the regional semifinals in 1967, 1969, 1983 and 1991 and to five Big East Championships.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "This is coming home. It's very exciting to be coaching in New York again, at a place where I always dreamed of doing the job." -- St. John's coach Norm Roberts

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

KEY RECRUITS AND TRANSFERS: Forward Rodney Epperson -- This New Yorker comes back home after detours at a pair of junior colleges. He'll be expected to compete for playing time right away.

Guard Jermaine Maybank -- Another juco product, this 6-4 guard will also get the chance to play from his first day on campus. The team hopes he can fill the desperate need for backcourt depth.

Guard Eugene Lawrence -- The backcourt partner of NBA first-rounder Sebastian Telfair, he averaged 14 points per game as a senior.

ROSTER REPORT: The few scholarship players on the roster appear to be healthy.

GETTING INSIDE

Maybe it's a sign that things are getting better for the Red Storm that sophomore guard Darryl Hill removed his name from the NBA draft list after his initial ill-advised decision to declare.

That's certainly the first thing that went right for St. John's in quite some time.

After a slow start led to the firing of Mike Jarvis, a scandal that began in a Pittsburgh strip club and ended with six players suspended or expelled effectively ended the competitive portion of the Red Storm's season. Only a victory over woeful Georgetown kept the team from going winless in Big East play.

The upcoming season isn't likely to be much better. All scandals and coaching changes aside, this team wasn't all that good when it had a full roster, and it doesn't have the talent to compete for a first-division finish with the current players. Expect another year of players who play very hard for 40 minutes but can't overcome the superior ability of their league rivals.

In addition to Hill, Lamont Hamilton and Tyler Jones give the Red Storm some inside heft. But it will be a very inexperienced team that takes the court for the opening tip in November, albeit one that knows full well what not to do with a free evening on the road.

New coach Norm Roberts faces an uphill battle, but the longtime Bill Self assistant may be the man who can get the job done. He was far from the biggest name bandied about during the Red Storm's coaching search. But he has a reputation as a great talker and good recruiter, both of which will play well in the New York market and help begin the long road back to respectability.


 

 

 


 
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