A tumultuous week and a meandering coaching search — replete with rejections from multiple candidates and public outcry from prominent school alumni — already had lasted more than a week when Mike Anderson’s phone finally rang Wednesday.
By the next day, the ousted Arkansas coach was in New York and Anderson officially was feted Friday at Madison Square Garden as Chris Mullin’s replacement, becoming the 21st head basketball coach in St. John’s history.
“First and foremost, wow, what a whirlwind. … I got a call Wednesday and I’m up here right now and I’m going to be the head coach of St. John’s,” the 59-year-old Anderson beamed in an afternoon Garden press conference. “I’m ready to get to work.”
Since Mullin stepped down on April 10, St. John’s had been turned down by Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley and Loyola-Chicago’s Porter Moser as potential replacements, with Iona’s Tim Cluess also removing his name from consideration earlier this week.
Proud alumnus and program booster Mike Repole, the founder of Vitamin Water and the owner of Bodyarmor SuperDrink, trashed the school’s administration and the hiring process in an interview earlier this week with WFAN’s Mike Francesa. Repole dubbed their shared alma mater “a national embarrassment” and called for the resignations of school president Bobby Gempesaw and vice president for administration Joe Oliva.
“No reaction to that, but the state of the program, we’re really excited, we’re really excited about this hire,” Oliva said. “Just in general, the enthusiasm and the energy of our fan base, it’s something that we embrace. We embrace that enthusiasm. We are always grateful for those who support the institution, support our programs.”
Repole also claimed he had pushed for St. John’s to pursue Danny Hurley, the current Connecticut coach, instead of Mullin four years ago, but that athletic director Mike Cragg’s bosses were meddling too much throughout the process and that Moser passed on the offered job because he wasn’t Cragg’s choice for the position.
“Today’s about coach Anderson and so you know my language, I’m just not gonna get into the play by play,” Cragg said. “I would have to unwind what was said, but we have been partners in this from Day One, meeting every day with my administration. I’m very positive, and I’m very positive about the results.”
After the previous rejections, Cragg — who was hired in September out of Duke’s athletic department — indicated former Blue Devils assistant coach and current Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel texted earlier this week to lobby for Anderson.
“I said tell me more, and he told me about coach Anderson and Jeff is one of my closest friends. … And that was the starting point,” Cragg said. “He said if you could get him, that would be amazing.”
Anderson has posted a career record of 369-200 (.649) over 17 seasons as a head coach at UAB, Missouri and Arkansas. His
are highlighted by an Elite Eight appearance in 2009 with Missouri.
The uncle of former Mizzou star and current Nets forward DeMarre Carroll is one of only four current Division I coaches with at least 15 years of experience who has never endured a sub .500 season, joining Roy Williams, Tom Izzo and Mark Few.
“When we talk about basketball, my résumé speaks for itself,” Anderson said. “We’re gonna play fast, we’re gonna pick ’em up [defensively] when they get off the bus. We’re gonna press, press, press. We’re gonna get after it. This is what we do. It’s exciting.
“I know how to win. That’s not bragging, I just know how to win.”
Anderson was fired after going 18-16 this year in his eighth season with the Razorbacks, losing in the second round of the NIT.
He also referred to St. John’s as “New York’s team,” but the question remains if he will assemble a coaching staff able to recruit the area effectively.
Andy Borman, the AAU director of the powerhouse Rens, was in attendance at the press conference. While it has been rumored he will be on Anderson’s staff, it is not definitive, and he is planning on coaching out the upcoming AAU season first, sources said. It is believed Anderson will bring TJ Cleveland, who was an assistant at Arkansas, to St. John’s as part of his staff.
“My goal as a head coach is to win a championship,” said Anderson, who was an assistant under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas during its 1994 NCAA title season. “I really feel that place is St. John’s.”
— Additional reporting by Zach Braziller
