Out But Not Over

by Jay Kaplan, OTSL Writer/Analyst

Those of you who follow "On The Sportslines" know that I am a St. John's graduate. I was there back when the guy the on-campus arena is named for was still roaming the sidelines in his Cosby Show sweaters. I was there when basketball players from high schools all across the five boroughs still lined up around the block to wear the Red & White and play half their home games at The World's Most Famous Arena. I was there when THE college basketball program in the city that called basketball ITS game was still a fixture in both the Big East, the Top 25 and NCAA Tournament.

Lou Carneseca retired from coaching the Johnnies (sorry, those of us who were there back then will NEVER call the team by its current name - we absolutely HATE IT) the same year I graduated - 1992. Things were never quite the same after that.

Long-time right-hand man Brian Mahoney inherited the job but didn't do much with it - a .491 winning percentage (.397 in The Big East) though there were two NCAA appearances from '92-'96. Fran Frischilla followed and gave us hope that things would get better - a .613 winning percentage (.593 in-conference) and a trip to the Big Dance in 1998, but then he was fired amidst rumors that he was job hunting while still on the job at St. John's.

The Mike Jarvis era followed. From 1998-2003 St. John's seemed to be back. NCAA trips in '99, '00 and '02. A Big East Conference championship in 2000 and an NIT Crown in 2003. Then, like Frischilla, he was fired. In this case, more for losing control of the team which led to NCAA sanctions, including vacating of wins in the NCAA's and that 2003 NIT title.

I for one, was never a Jarvis fan. I blame him for the condition that the basketball program has been in for the last decade. I blame him and his ego and his grandiose ideas of recruiting the best players from all over for giving the best players in this city - a city filled to overflowing with great high school basketball players - no reason to stay home and play for New York's college basketball program. Why should they when the coach of that program ignores them. Jarvis just never understood the core recruiting principle for a St. John's coach - keep the kids from places like Rice, Christ the King, Boys & Girls and St. Raymond's at home.

Norm Roberts tried his best under very tough conditions. The NCAA sanctions made it hard to get players to come play at St. John's. But the guys he got stuck around because they believed in what Roberts was ultimately trying to do - return this city's college basketball team to prominence. Norm didn't get to finish what he started, but his kids did.

10 seniors, 9 who played four years, who suffered through a 44-53 stretch their first three years, who suffered through 37 conference losses over those three years finally got their moment in the sun.

They bought into new coach Steve Lavin's system hook, line and sinker. They knocked off 6 Top 25 teams - 4 in the Top 10 - en route to a 21-12 season that included a 12-6 record in the crucible that is the Big East. They returned to both the Top 25 and the NCAA's as the #6 seed in the Southeast Region.

Unfortunately, they would have to play their opening round game without Senior Swingman DJ Kennedy. Kennedy tore the ACL in his right knee during the Johnnies loss to Syracuse in the Big East Tournament. Would Kennedy's presence on the court have been the difference between a second-round game against Jimmer and BYU and last night's heart-breaking 86-71 loss to Gonzaga? Probably not.

St. John's did not play its best game last night. They got crushed on the glass (43-20); allowed the Zags to kill them from long-range (9-15 on 3's) and just couldn't seem to execute their game on either end. Once they fell behind by double-digits they just couldn't seem to find their way back against a tough, tournament-tested team like the Zags. It was a painful, tearful way to end what had been a season filled with smiles.

Those 10 seniors will never play another game in the Red & White. Never get a chance to feel the exhilaration that comes from a March Madness win. Never get to dream about what next season might bring. Last night's loss will no doubt stay with them for a long time.

They may remember the 2011 tournament only as a One-And-Done disappointment. The rest of us - Alumni like me and fellow OTSL panelists Scott Chapman (under-grad) and Sean Roman (law school), and all the St. John's basketball fans in New York and around the country - we will remember this tournament and this season as the one that returned the Johnnies to their rightful place in the college basketball landscape.

St. John's basketball may be out as far as this season goes, but thanks to the kids that Norm Roberts recruited and Steve Lavin turned into winners, things are far from over. In fact, you could say they've just begun and thus once again we can say it loud and say it proud: WE ARE...ST. JOHN'S!