More than two weeks after he took over as the 19th coach in St. John’s storied history, Steve Lavin appears close to finalizing his staff.
Rico Hines will become the second assistant to join Lavin’s staff and could be formally announced as early as Monday, multiple sources with knowledge said.
Hines was an assistant under Don Nelson with the Golden State Warriors and also played for Lavin at UCLA.
Mike Dunlap, the former Oregon assistant, interviewed Friday for the Colorado vacancy and is also in the mix at Oregon. Should he fail to land either, he could join the St. John’s staff.
“But Colorado is the job I really want,” Dunlap told the Denver Post. “This is home.”
Tony Chiles, the former Drexel assistant, is the only person Lavin has officially hired since replacing Norm Roberts March 30.
Meantime, a source with knowledge said Rice High School coach Moe Hicks is “leaning” toward joining Lavin’s staff as the Director of Basketball Operations, but nothing has been finalized yet.
If Hicks takes that position, a couple of things would happen.
First, he would not be able to recruit from that spot but the staff hopes that his connections in the New York area would yield dividends.
“Moe Hicks would be a great addition to the St. John’s staff,” New Heights athletic director Kimani Young, who formerly worked on Norm Roberts‘ St. John’s staff, said last week. “He’s an accomplished coach with a solid reputation for developing talent. He has relationships that stretch far past New York City. I would be excited and proud to see him join that staff.”
Because of a new NCAA rule, St. John’s wouldn’t be able to take any prospective student-athlete from Rice High or the Gauchos AAU Program for two years because Hicks coached both programs.
That would mean 6-9 senior forward Kadeem Jack of Rice and 6-5 junior wing Jermaine Sanders would be out of the mix for the Johnnies.
St. John’s is also out of the running for Oak Hill guard Doron Lamb, who will announce his college choice Saturday night at MSG and is on record saying he likes how Kentucky coach John Calipari gets guards ready for the NBA.
But 6-7 small forward Dwayne Polee of Los Angeles Westchester will visit the Queens school this weekend.
Polee averaged 20.9 points and 9.8 rebounds and is also reportedly considering Georgia, UNLV and UTEP.
COACHING CAROUSEL
Elsewhere on the coaching carousel, St. Mary’s assistant Kyle Smith, New Orleans coach Joe Pasternack and NJIT coach Jim Engles will be interviewed for the Columbia vacancy, a source with knowledge said.
Joe Jones left Columbia to join Steve Donahue’s staff at Boston College.
At Wagner College on Staten Island, new coach Danny Hurley has hired his brother, Bobby, who led Duke to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1991 and ’92, and Bashir Mason, who coached the prep team at St. Benedict’s before moving on to Marist. Hurley has one spot to fill at Wagner.
SIDIBE DECOMMITS FROM FORDHAM
6-8 Cardinal Hayes sophomore Amadou Sidibe, who committed to then-interim Fordham coach Jared Grasso, has decommitted from Fordham and is looking at Iona, Yale and Northeastern.
(Photo courtesy St. John’s Athletics)
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