They Found the Right Man to Lead Them
NEW YORK – A year ago at this time, there was plenty of talk about who would be the next St. John’s head coach after the December firing of Mike Jarvis. There was plenty of mention of Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who was though to be the clear front-runner for most of the remainder of the season, as well as Matt Doherty and Providence head coach Tim Welsh. Other names came up occasionally, like Boston University’s Dennis Wolff and even Davidson’s Bob McKillop.
Nowhere to be found in the discussion was Norm Roberts’ name. He was busy helping Kansas to another fine regular season, then a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Roberts’ name never entered the discussion until some time after the season, and he was far from the favorite for the job at first. At this point, that seems hard to imagine, because the Red Storm clearly have the right man for the job based on the early returns.
Fresh off a season of numerous lows for the school, they are getting back on the map quicker than expected, and Roberts is a large reason for that. They have already eclipsed last season’s win total, both overall and in Big East play, and have wins such as North Carolina State and Pittsburgh that have accelerated their return. The Red Storm have certainly not been an easy out, even on Saturday when they lost 68-46 at Connecticut but still made it an ugly game for the Huskies to win. Several times, Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun had to call a timeout because of plays his team didn’t make, so it’s no surprise that Calhoun had high praise for Roberts.
“He’s doing as good a job coaching as anybody in the league,” said Calhoun, who added that Roberts is one of three coaches he thinks should be considered for Big East Coach of the Year at this point (Al Skinner and John Thompson III were the other two).
A Queens native who grew up a big fan of St. John’s, Roberts came after learning from one of the best in the business in Kansas head coach Bill Self for nine seasons. Self has been a winner every step of the way in his career, and Roberts was right there as it happened. He was a key recruiter, including in New York, where the ties he has are certainly an immediate help in this new job.
Roberts doesn’t start with a lot of talent at his disposal, as the events of last season gutted a roster that was already lacking in Big East-level talent. That, along with the firing of Jarvis, greatly hampered recruiting efforts for this season, and the Red Storm’s first-year players are certainly not a collection of high school All-Americans. But thus far, the Red Storm have been more than just competitive and don’t reside in the cellar of the Big East as expected, and much of the credit for that goes to Roberts.
“I knew it was going to be a tough situation just from the outside looking in,” Roberts said. “I also know that challenges are exciting, so a chance to come back home and try to restore St. John’s to what it once was is a great challenge for me and my staff.”
Roberts filled his staff with New York natives, including former college teammate Glenn Braica and one of the nation’s top recruiters in Fred Quartlebaum, who has made stops recently at Notre Dame, North Carolina and Iowa State. Recruiting in New York is essential at this program, and the Red Storm took an important first step there in the fall when St. Raymond’s star guard Ricky Torres signed with the school. Torres is not only important in re-establishing the school’s ability to recruit the area and the all-important New York Catholic League, but he will also give them a long range shooter, which the current team lacks.
This year’s team lacks depth and size, and Roberts knows that. He gets his team to compensate well with intangibles and using the advantages they do have, such as Saturday when they certainly didn’t have a size advantage against the big Connecticut front line.
“I thought we did a good job of stripping them early,” Roberts said of his smaller players making plays inside. “We just have to use our speed and our feet; Lamont’s going to be a very good player in this league, but right now, he is not at the strength level as probably some of the other players.”
Roberts referred to sophomore Lamont Hamilton, one of the tallest Red Storm players at 6’9″ and who has thus far been their best inside player. He had to effectively re-recruit guard Daryll Hill, who declared for the NBA Draft last spring. Hill, the Big East’s third-leading scorer, eventually returned to school and has been the team’s unquestioned go-to guy. He wanted to be part of the team’s rebirth, and he is leading the way at this point.
“I spoke to him a lot about the team next year and that I really wanted to stay here and be part of a winning team,” Hill said of Roberts.
The big surprise among the newcomers has been freshman Eugene Lawrence, the first New York signee of the Roberts era. An excellent student, his other suitors included schools from the Ivy and Patriot Leagues, and he was a teammate of Sebastian Telfair at Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. Lawrence leads all Big East freshmen in assists, and has a 1.3 assist/turnover ratio. He didn’t shoot the ball very well against Connecticut and hasn’t for much of the season, but Roberts isn’t going to lose confidence in his floor leader.
“Gene is doing a good job, he’s trying extremely hard – he’s a freshman who’s playing 40 minutes a game, and he’s going to make those mistakes,” Roberts said. “I want him to shoot the ball when he’s open, it’s a good shot when it leaves his hand, not if it goes in or not – I don’t want to take his confidence away.”
That has been a recurring pattern with this team, as they have just four juniors and seniors and have to play freshmen like Lawrence, backcourt mate Cedric Jackson and forward Dexter Gray a lot of minutes. All have shown the potential to be good Big East players, but have also played like freshmen at times. He likes what he sees from them, and the players certainly respond with their effort.
“The freshmen are almost forced in the role to play a lot, so you’ve got to let them play through mistakes,” he said. “They’re going to make mistakes, pat them on the backside and let them know, hey, we know you’re going to make mistakes, but we’ve got to get stronger each game. And I think we’re doing that, our guys are playing hard, they’re playing tough, that’s what I want them to do.”
“We come in every day and practice hard, give it 110 percent for the game, and just come out and play,” said Gray, who was named the Big East’s Rookie of the Week the first week of the season. “Coach just wants us to come out and play, and that’s what we’re doing.”
In the past, an 8-11 record overall and 2-7 in Big East play was far from acceptable at St. John’s. At this point, it’s a very respectable record, and the Red Storm have had chances to win most of the 11 games they have lost, as eight of their losses have been by 10 points or less. Roberts hasn’t lowered this team’s standards from the moment he arrived, and though he knows things won’t change overnight, that doesn’t change the philosophy for approaching each game.
“I think you coach every team like you’re going to win the national championship and you can win the national championship,” he said. “We don’t settle for mediocrity, our school doesn’t settle for mediocre students and we’re not going to settle for mediocre athletes.”
The results thus far are getting the Red Storm back on the map. On the recruiting trail, they did not get another early signee from New York besides Torres, but they have been finalists for many other top prospects from there and that will only improve. They signed three other players, including forwards Anthony Mason, Jr. and Aaron Spears, the latter of whom Roberts recruited while an assistant at Illinois. All three, as well as Virginia forward Tomas Jasiulionis, certainly boost the talent and depth they have. Roberts, a very humble and down to earth man, says he gets a good feel out on the recruiting trail and especially with local kids and coaches.
He describes his former boss as “a guy that gets the most out of his players.” He certainly learned from one of the best, and appears to be accomplishing the same thing right now. If not for the unbelievable run Boston College is on, Roberts would be an easy choice for Coach of the Year right now. Even so, he belongs in that discussion now and will surely be there when the season ends.
