St. John’s coach Steve Lavin is still filling out his staff and will meet Friday with former Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato, a source with direct knowledge said.
Adubato spent three years at Seton Hall under Bobby Gonzalez, who was fired last month. Before that he was an assistant coach for two years under Mike Fratello with the Memphis Grizzlies. He also spent seven years in scouting and player development with Memphis.
A New Jersey native and the son of former NBA and WNBA head coach Richie Adubato, Adubato is respected and connected in the Garden State. He recruited Kyrie Irving to Seton Hall and kept the Pirates in the mix with the McDonald’s All-American until the end. He remains close with several uncommitted 2010 recruits, including Jonathan Graham, a 6-8 senior power forward from Baltimore (Md.) Calvert Hall, and the former UConn commit Cleveland Melvin, a 6-8 big man from Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep.
Adubato has also met several times with new Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, who has one spot remaining on his staff.
Adubato is also associated with Gonzalez, who was dismissed under a dark cloud after four stormy years at Seton Hall.
Prospective bosses would need to decide whether Adubato’s experience and connections outweigh his association with Gonzalez.
As for St. John’s, Lavin has formally hired just one assistant, former Drexel assistant Tony Chiles, but appears close to bringing in former Oregon associate head coach Mike Dunlap.
The Oregonian reported that Dunlap is “on the verge of joining Steve Lavin’s staff at St. John’s,” but apparently some financial issues need to be worked out.
BUTLER HAS SURGERY
West Virginia senior Da’Sean Butler underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee Thursday at The Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Butler was hurt with 8:59 left in the second half of last Saturday’s NCAA national semifinal against Duke.
FREE THROWS
Fresh off his national championship game run with Butler, head coach Brad Stevens has signed a 12-year extension with the Bulldogs. Oregon was reportedly interested in signing Stevens to fill its coaching vacancy…The Oregonian also reported that Terrence Jones, a 6-8 Parade all-American from Portland (Ore.) Jefferson, remains interested in Oregon (along with Kentucky, Washington, UCLA and Oklahoma) and will wait until April 23 or 30 before announcing his decision…Unsigned 6-10 Brewster big man Maurice Walker will take an official visit to Minnesota this weekend, per Brewster’s Twitter page…We should know more about Gilvydas Biruta’s situation next week after the Fred Hill situation clears up. The 6-8 Biruta lost his high school coach (Dan Hurley) and his prospective future college coach (Hill) in the same week and his future remains up in the air…After meeting with new Fordham coach Tom Pecora, 6-5 Paterson Catholic senior guard Jayon James plans to attend prep school and re-open his recruitment. James initially committed to interim Fordham coach Jared Grasso, now an Iona assistant.
(Photo courtesy Seton Hall Athletics)
