The hard part has yet to come.
The hard part wasn’t yesterday, when Norm Roberts had to fight off tears as he spoke with deep gratitude about his family, who looked on proudly as he was introduced as St. John’s new basketball coach. The hard part wasn’t trying to explain his 24-84 record when he was a young coach at ambivalent Queens College.
The hard part is in the days and weeks to come. That’s when Roberts, the former Kansas associate head coach, will have to do what St. John’s president Father Donald J. Harrington is counting on: unify a St. John’s basketball community that has been fractured and restore the program to prominence.
“The main thing is to change the mindset within our program,” said Roberts, who signed a five-year, $3 million deal. “Then we’ll have to change the mindset in the community. People have to start feeling good again about St. John’s.”
There are a lot of bad feelings in Jamaica these days that go far beyond last season’s 6-21 debacle. The program was embarrassed by a series of off-the-court incidents involving players, highlighted by a trip to Club Erotica in Pittsburgh by six members of the team.
Long before that, former St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis had blown up relationships with many of the city’s high school and AAU coaches. The result was a migration from the city of many of the elite players, such as Russell Robinson, whom Roberts recruited to Kansas.
“It pains me to see guys from New York City wearing other uniforms,” said Roberts, who is expected to hire St. Francis (Brooklyn) associate head coach Glenn Braica as an assistant. “It pains me to see guys winning national championships that should be playing at St. John’s. We’re not going to get them all. It’s impossible to get to them all. But there won’t be one kid in New York City that will say St. John’s didn’t bust their tail recruiting.”
There are other internal bad feelings that could affect Roberts. Sources said there is a significant rift between Harrington, who ultimately made this decision, and James Riley, a member of the board of trustees who served on the selection committee.
Riley has donated millions of dollars to the university, some earmarked for the new practice, office and locker room facility, the Riley Fieldhouse. Riley supported Matt Doherty for this job. Harrington said Riley remains a strong supporter of St. John’s, and Riley sent The Post an e-mail saying it was a great day for SJU basketball.
Doherty said he was impressed with the St. John’s interview process and that he wanted to hire Roberts as an assistant when Doherty was the head coach at Notre Dame. Roberts said he hopes all of the factions at St. John’s await judgment until they meet him.
“He’s proven to be one of the very best in our business,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a statement. “He’s an excellent recruiter, he’s an excellent coach and he conducts his business in a manner which any university would be proud. . . . He has a unique way of getting close to players quickly.”
St. John’s hopes that will be the case. There are eight scholarship players remaining, and the Big East, which has the past two national champions in Connecticut and Syracuse, will add former Conference USA powers Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette.
“I’m not taking a back seat to anybody,” Roberts said. “I don’t care who you are.”
Who is Norm Roberts? He was born and raised in Queens, led Springfield Gardens to the 1983 PSAL championship, played and coached at Queens College, and has returned home to what he called his dream job. Others say it’s a nightmare.
“I’m impressed by his enthusiasm,” former St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca said. “I think he’ll be able to get his ideas across because of his intensity. People want to bury us, but this guy is alive and kicking.”
