St. John's, UTEP Get New Coaches

St. John's basketball program has hired Steve Lavin as their new head coach, succeeding Norm Roberts. Roberts was fired after six seasons as head coach, not making the NCAA Tournament in any season. Lavin coached at UCLA for seven seasons, and he made the NCAA Tournament in six of those seven seasons. His last season, UCLA went 10-19 and Lavin was promptly fired after the season, in which he took a job as a college basketball analyst with ESPN.

UTEP also made a big hire, getting Tim Floyd as their new head coach. Their previous coach, Tony Barbee, left UTEP to take a head coaching job with Auburn. UTEP was in the NCAA Tournament this year, but lost to Butler in the first round. Butler is still in the tournament, playing Michigan St in the Final Four on Saturday. Floyd was previously head coach with USC, but left last year after allegations were made stating he illegally recruited O.J. Mayo. Floyd has continuously denied those allegations. USC is still being investigated by the NCAA, and the school decided to forfeit past wins on their own. USC also didn't compete in the Pac 10 tournament or the NCAA Tournament.

The hire of Lavin by St. John's is going to be interesting, because Lavin will have a lot to do in order to restore the prominence of St. John's basketball. This isn't UCLA, where a lot of top high school basketball players love to go. He'll have to hire assistants with great ties to the New York City area, and the surrounding area, to recruit the top basketball players in the area. I believe Lavin can get it done, because he has been able to study college basketball from afar as an analyst. He'll know what St. John's needs, and they could be back competing in the Big East, and in the NCAA Tournament.

The hire of Tim Floyd by UTEP could go either way. Floyd has NBA credentials as well, having coached the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Hornets. However, the latest allegations made against him during his time at USC could scare away parents of good basketball players he's trying to recruit. There is a possibility that Floyd can put the UTEP program in trouble, the same way Kelvin Sampson did with Oklahoma and then Indiana, and John Calipari with UMass, and then Memphis. However, it's a wait and see process with both coaches.