Daryll Hill, last year’s Holiday Festival MVP, was seated on the St. John’s bench in street clothes because of a left knee injury. At least one player on the Red Storm team knew there was another MVP-in-waiting.

Eugene Lawrence told his parents, Gerard and Denise, that he was going to win the coveted award. He did just that after leading the Red Storm to a 51-49 win over Umass.

“I knew I had to be the general, the floor leader of this team and if I did, good things would happen,” Lawrence told The Post.

After Lawrence accepted the trophy and posed for a team photo with the tournament trophy, he bolted to the stands and presented the glass hardware to his father.

“We left him alone yesterday because we knew he was under a lot of pressure with Daryll being out,” Gerard Lawrence said. “I just told him, ‘If you win it, don’t forget your Pops.’ “

Lawrence, a sophomore who was Sebastian Telfair’s wingman at Lincoln, had 21 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds in wins over Columbia and Massachusetts.