St. John’s coach Norm Roberts has been fired after six years running the Red Storm.
Roberts took over a a program in serious need of a turnaround after Mike Jarvis’ disastrous tenure in Queens. He has received near-universal praise for rebuilding connections to New York’s top high school and AAU programs — many of which were spurned by Jarvis — and running a clean program featuring players who worked hard both on and off the court. But ultimately, he simply didn’t win enough games. His six-year record at St. John’s stands at 81-101, and he lost too many top New York City recruits to the likes of Jamie Dixon at Pitt, Bob Huggins at West Virginia, Rick Pitino at Louisville and UConn’s Jim Calhoun.
In many ways, Roberts is the anti-Bobby Gonzalez. Gonzalez is abrasive and hard-charging. He drew criticism for recruiting players with troubled pasts. Roberts is well-liked — his personal popularity with the media and fellow coaches may have helped save his job until now — and his players have stayed out of trouble. But both coaches failed to reach the Big Dance, and both are now looking for work. (Roberts will find a job first — possibly on the staff of his mentor, Kansas’ Bill Self.)
Who’s Next for St. John’s?
The leading candidate for the job is reportedly Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg — a New York native — with metro-area names like Siena’s Fran McCaffery and Hofstra’s Tom Pecora getting regular ink as options.
The pipe-dream candidate is another native New Yorker, Florida’s Billy Donovan. Donovan’s proponents are hoping he’s grown tired of Gainesville — and vice versa, considering the Gators haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since capturing the second of their back-t0-back championships in 2007 — and that St. John’s can raise enough money from Wall Street alumni to make an offer in the $3.5 – $4 million range.
Getting this right is crucial. St. John’s cannot afford to make a mistake with this hire.
The new coach will have the opportunity to put his stamp on the program right away — the 2010-11 squad will be heavy with seniors, which should be an advantage even in the always-tough Big East. That also means he’ll have lots of scholarships available when he hits the recruiting trail.
Roberts Fired by St. John’s originally appeared on About.com Basketball on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 11:10:36.
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