Another Blow For St. John's

[NJRedman]

Am I the only one who thinks Hooper and Realfan are one and the same? They sure sound the same to me. Like if you didn't read the name Realfan you would think it's a Hooper post.

[Hall2012]

Am I the only one who thinks Hooper and Realfan are one and the same? They sure sound the same to me. Like if you didn't read the name Realfan you would think it's a Hooper post.

don't forget his old alias- Lavinwood

[Amase2]

Am I the only one who thinks Hooper and Realfan are one and the same? They sure sound the same to me. Like if you didn't read the name Realfan you would think it's a Hooper post.

Nope not the same person.

[Bluejay]

Of course the Lavin defenders are at it already, "it's not Lavin's fault", "we didn't need him anyway", etc.etc.etc. the pattern is all too familiar though.

Out of curiosity, are Lavin defenders called "Lavenders"?

I'm no fan of Lavin, but if this is an SAT issue, I don't blame Lavin for this one.

[REDMEN1415]

Of course the Lavin defenders are at it already, "it's not Lavin's fault", "we didn't need him anyway", etc.etc.etc. the pattern is all too familiar though.

Out of curiosity, are Lavin defenders called "Lavenders"?

I'm no fan of Lavin, but if this is an SAT issue, I don't blame Lavin for this one.

Blue, this is the second recruit in a week. If don't say that this is on Lavin (the coach), then who is it on?

It's a freaking circus under Lavin.

[SJHooper]

Well, sounding more and more like Briscoe is choosing UK now because Lavin "forgot" how to recruit for 2 years in a row. IMO losing him is the final nail in the coffin for Lavin. He skipped over 2014 and said he was working very hard on 2015 really focusing on our main target: Briscoe. He recruited him over 3 years while UK only offered a few months ago. Even if this team makes the tourney this year and exits early (anything less than sweet 16), it's too little too late. He cannot coach X and O's. Our offense has never had any real direction or clue. We rarely see any true player development. He seems to have more ineligibilities than commits, and after being called a great recruiter, he totally flopped on the '14 and '15 classes. 1 NCAA appearance (lost immediately) with another coach's players in 5 years is not going to cut it. I think Briscoe really, really wants to come here but is losing sleep thinking about who he would be playing with if he comes. He must know that he could start a domino effect of recruits coming after he does, but they would all be freshmen and the team likely wouldn't do great. Briscoe seems to be a 1 and done, so he wouldn't have time to wait for a few classes. That's why the '14 class was so important. Get some good recruits and have them be veterans by the time Briscoe comes. But Lavin flat out failed. Now it may cost him Briscoe. I don't think we make the tourney this year but if any other fans had any doubt that he should be fired, not making the tourney really would be the final nail in his coffin IMO. Lavin is a great person and means well, but he just sucks as a coach.

And NJRedman, you are again confused. It's funny to me that you think me and the other guy are the same person. You are just shocked that two SJ fans can be stone cold realists who don't act as yes men on Redmen.com and pray to the altar of Lavin. You can be a fan of a team and admit the realities of that team. It's not against the rules.

[Realfan]

Of course the Lavin defenders are at it already, "it's not Lavin's fault", "we didn't need him anyway", etc.etc.etc. the pattern is all too familiar though.

Out of curiosity, are Lavin defenders called "Lavenders"?

I'm no fan of Lavin, but if this is an SAT issue, I don't blame Lavin for this one.

Blue, this is the second recruit in a week. If don't say that this is on Lavin (the coach), then who is it on?

It's a freaking circus under Lavin.

Completely agree, how were other coaches aware and Lavin not? So then there are two possible situations here, neither of which are good. The only difference between this program right now and a circus is that in a circus, the clowns wear clown suits, in the St. John's program, they wear coaching outfits.

A. Lavin didn't know about this, didn't review his scores, hence gross negligence on his part.

B. Lavin was aware (as I truly believe, no head coach in such a position of responsibility could possibly be so unaware of a players status unless you're a complete idiot which I don't belueve Lavin is) and was hoping it would go unnoticed.

Either way, bad news. In terms of myself and Hooper being one in the same, I ask why. Just because we see the reality of a horrific situation and don't see things through rose colored glasses does not mean we are the same person. Heck on Yesmen.com, there are so many people who insist that Lavin is a great recruiter based on one decent class, should we say they are all one in the same? Get real please.

[BigEast1]

From I read yesterday, the issue wasn't his "scores" but rather how he performed on a standardized test. Not sure how accurate this is but if it's true there is no way any head coach would have known about this, especially after the student was cleared by the NCAA. I'm not taking sides on the Lavin issue, the Lavin haters are going to blame him for bad weather. His supporters may be unrealistically holding out hope that this will be the year things turn around. I just don't know if we have enough information yet to know exactly what happened & whether it was something that should have been known.

[REDMEN1415]

From I read yesterday, the issue wasn't his "scores" but rather how he performed on a standardized test. Not sure how accurate this is but if it's true there is no way any head coach would have known about this, especially after the student was cleared by the NCAA. I'm not taking sides on the Lavin issue, the Lavin haters are going to blame him for bad weather. His supporters may be unrealistically holding out hope that this will be the year things turn around. I just don't know if we have enough information yet to know exactly what happened & whether it was something that should have been known.

BigEast1, I read that the clearinghouse was tipped from an outside source. So lets see, that outsource knew and tipped off the clearinghouse, but the great Lavin didn't know?
To me there's something fishy going on with this guy.

Is it possible that in April he was so desperate to find big guys that he just took the chance on players, even if he knew something?

[BigEast1]

Redmen1415, I am not saying that Lavin knew or didn't know, I am simply saying that I can't make that call with the info that is out there. A lot depends on who the outside source is. Some are suggesting that it was DeLaRosa's HS coach who doesn't like Lavin. If that's true he would have more info about what the player may have done or not done regarding an exam than Lavn, and he could have sat on this info until the last minute. Others are speculating that it was the Calipari camp. If that's true then I can't imagine he'd have info that Lavin also didn't have access to. I agree that there is something fishy going on but I can't say yet at this point where it's coming from.