There they sat, the living embodiment of St. John’s greatness — Bill Wennington and Chris Mullin, the players who opted to turn down the likes of Duke and Virginia — and Lou Carnesecca, the coach who convinced them to stay home.
It has been 25 years since that triumphant trio lifted St. John’s to the pinnacle of college basketball with a Final Four appearance; 25 years since college basketball was the biggest story in this town.
“Everybody talks basketball in this town,” Carnesecca said before S. John’s impressive 74-55 victory over Louisville last night at the Garden. “It’s a basketball town.”
These days it’s a losing basketball town. From the Knicks and Nets to Fordham to St. John’s, you need satellite TV to find a win.
Before last night’s win over Louisville (15-9, 6-5 Big East), St. John’s (13-10 overall, 3-8 in the Big East) was a loser of five straight, making it difficult to celebrate the silver anniversary of the school’s last Final Four.
No one expected coach Norm Roberts to be the second coming of Carnesecca, but by now it was hoped the sixth-year coach would have landed one elite city recruit.
When asked why the Red Storm have fallen, Carnesecca, who has been every bit the Roberts supporter, lit the fuse that burns at the center of the future of St. John’s hoops.
“One guy can turn it around,” Carnesecca said. “Get one guy to ignite this thing and he can turn it around.”
Roberts hasn’t gotten him. Rick Pitino brought Edgar Sosa to Louisville. Dave Leitao two years ago at Virginia got Sylven Landesberg. Mick Cronin at Cincinnati got Lance Stephenson.
Roberts, 77-95, has done a remarkable job of restoring dignity at St. John’s. He has poured his blood, sweat and tears into his dream job.
But the wins and players haven’t come. Or the players and wins haven’t come.
“I’m in Chicago and I’m close to DePaul and they’re going through exactly the same thing,” Wennington said. “Sometimes it’s going to take some new thinking. You have to try different things. You can’t rely solely on what you did yesterday, especially now, because kids [who] are coming up that are 18 years old, there’s not much recognition of the past.”
Wennington made it clear he wasn’t espousing a coaching change. He understands St. John’s isn’t what it once was.
Players can find national TV exposure and a path to the NBA at other Big East schools. They can play for a Hall of Fame coach at other schools.
“I think it was our freshman year we played Georgetown here, I think we were down 41-9 at the half,” Mullin said. “I remember that halftime speech.
“We were kind of braced,” Mullin continued. “We figured [Carnesecca would] come in and start ripping off the lights and stuff. He just came in and said, ‘You just [made a mess] on the Garden floor. Go see if you can clean some of it up in the second half and we’ll have a good practice tomorrow.”
St. John’s can’t live in the past. The keeper of the future is athletic director Chris Monasch, who must decide if Roberts has taken the program as far as he can or if this junior-laden team can break through.
