St. John's 8-1 start could match the best of coach Steve Lavin's career, when UCLA opened the 1997-98 season winning nine of its first 10. The No. 20 Red Storm are ranked for the first time since 2011. There are good vibes aplenty around Carnesecca Arena after they took down rival Syracuse, snapping the Orange's 55-game win streak against nonconference opponents in the Carrier Dome.
Lavin spoke to ESPN.com about the maturation of leading scorer D'Angelo Harrison, cutting carbs and doing crunches, and the greatest rapper of all time.
The 8-1 start has matched the best start of your coaching career; is it safe to declare St. John's back?
This group is on track -- in terms of a vision that I had coming in five years ago -- to have a special season. This group has adapted and adjusted as well as any I've had. Their resilience, their resolve to continue to climb up the mountain inspires me. When we came here five years ago, as a staff we knew it was an arduous task or mission, but we signed on for it because we saw the potential to restore a once proud, great program. And we're closer. Coaches don't get too far ahead of themselves, so I can't get too carried away with projections. But I'm very pleased with where we are as a program and the direction we're headed.
During the 2011-12 season you took a leave of absence to battle cancer. How did that bout change your everyday routine as a coach?
Cancer has a way of prioritizing the most important elements of life: Faith, family, a handful of good friends that care about you unconditionally, and an appreciation for this moment. Cancer is a dreaded disease, but it informs our sensibilities in a profound way, and as a result, we look at life through that new prism. It's not a situation where you're any less competitive, but you have a more balanced perspective of what's really important in life. I want to win as much as I did when I was a 32-year-old head coach at UCLA. But at 50, because of life's experiences -- having been fired, battled cancer, having lost my father in 2013, those intersections or junctures have shaped and informed a different outlook.
Syracuse calls itself, "New York's college basketball team." The St. John's slogan is, "We are New York's team, we are St. John's." Your team went up to the Carrier Dome and won this year, so who really runs New York?
The harsh reality is Syracuse has dominated the series in the last 25 years. There was intermittent success. If you want to be brutally honest about it, Syracuse has dominated in recent history. Our goal when we came here five years ago was to close the gap that existed between ourselves and Syracuse. I think a win in the Carrier Dome is a step in the right direction. So we're pleased with being able to come away with a 'W' in the Carrier Dome, and yet not satisfied and realize we haven't done anything of significance in terms of climbing the mountain to get back to the postseason and make a run in March.
You spent seven years with ESPN before returning to the sidelines. Who gets harsher criticism, coaches or commentators?
Broadcasting is the ideal set of circumstances because you never lose a game, you're undefeated and you have the opportunity to engage with fans coast to coast. Criticism wasn't really in the mix. I was the biggest critic of myself. I was fortunate to have one of the best in the history of sports television in Brent Musburger as my mentor, and also Dave O'Brien. Those two were the play-by-play men that I had the good fortune of working with the majority of my time at ESPN. It was a great seven years because the pace slowed down. The pace and tempo of my life slowed down and I was able to kind of step back from the coaching career and as a result see the game through a different prism and also see the world in a different light.
What's the biggest difference in D'Angelo Harrison from before he was suspended as a sophomore to how he's now playing as a senior?
The maturity. D'Angelo has learned how to better channel his fire and emotional fuel, so he's now elevated his game and our team along with it because the fuel and the fire is being directed in a productive way. That's a credit to D'Angelo, who did the work. The self-examination, the counseling with John Lucas; he was able to come back to St. John's and earn the respect of his coaches and teammates, and as a result, our fans have a deep appreciation for his journey.
St. John's ranks eighth in adjusted defense according to KenPom.com. How much of your defensive success would you attribute to Chris Obekpa's shot-blocking presence?
Chris is as unique a talent for his particular position as any I've coached when considering his affect on the game on the defensive end. He's very bright. Sometimes when people see a dunk or a blocked shot, the focus is on athleticism. I think his skill and basketball intellect and discipline is at work when you watch Chris Obekpa play. It all works in concert in a manner that fuels our defensive purposes. That's why people talk about a player being a game-changer, and Chris is one of those players. He's the anchor of our defense. The oak tree. We want him protecting the lane and the rim as much as possible.
He's also attempting to be a trendsetter. What were your thoughts when Obekpa broke out the short shorts?
He's done it throughout his career in practices. We hadn't seen it for an extended run in a game until this year. To be honest, it's never hit my ... radar other than media questions about it. But Chris is creative and a fresh and original trendsetter and clearly he's established his own brand with his gifts on the floor and his sense of retro style.
Speaking of fashion, would you ever wear a Lou Carnesecca sweater?
On the right occasion and if it fit well. I might have to drop 20-25 pounds because at this point, I might look like Winnie the Pooh with this Buddha belly I'm carrying around. If I do some ab work and cut out the carbs and drop 20-25, I'd be willing to put on a Coach Carnesecca sweater to honor the Hall of Famer and everything he represents about basketball and St. John's history in particular.
Going from being a lifelong Californian to living in the birthplace of Hip-Hop, the most important question you may answer comes down to this: Biggie or Tupac?
That's a great question. I'd have to go with Tupac because of the period of time he spent in the Bay Area, and that's where my roots are.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo played "Jingle Bells" on the accordion during his radio show. If you could play an instrument, what would your Christmas carol be?
Clearly Burl Ives' version of "Frosty the Snowman." Everything about Burl Ives reminds me of Christmas. But I have no musical skills.
STATE OF THE GAME
Each week we'll have a coach talk about an aspect of college basketball.
Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins on making recruiting periods a bit more even: "It wouldn't be bad for recruiting to give us another week back in April to continue to evaluate. Even if they took one back in July, you'd have a couple [weeks] in April and a couple in July. That way you can evaluate and look at making strong decisions of what you've seen, instead of putting a lot of emphasis on what you've seen in July and minimizing the importance of April."
TALKING POINTS
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski on the importance of not being normal: "That's what happens after exams, after a layoff, and after you've played a good game. Because you're normal and in order to be really good, you can't be normal. Normal stays in the past and wants it easier after some great accomplishment. When you're not normal, you get hungrier. We weren't able to pass that test [against Elon]. We talked about it, but human nature beat the hell out of us [against Elon]. So that's disappointing."
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg on not allowing the last game to affect the next game: "Great teams bounce back from tough losses and find a way to put big wins behind them. And you have to do it right away. I told them enjoy [the Iowa win], let's have a great bus ride home from Iowa City, but when we need to get rest and get prepared to play a Southern team who I think has a great chance to win that league ... we need to be better than that. But I'm glad we came away with the win."
Wofford coach Mike Young on the postgame handshake with NC State coach Mark Gottfried before officials determined Trevor Lacey's shot came after time expired and the Terriers won: "Mark [Gottfried] and I go way back and he was very complimentary and very kind. He finished what he was saying with I think the shot was good. I said you know what, I think the shot was good as well. But that's why they have technology in arenas such as this to get the call right. To make sure they get it right. That's a call that has to be reviewed. They studied it and I'm certain, I'm certain they got it right and that's all you ask. I've been on the other end of that at Xavier a couple of years ago. But make no mistake, this game came down to our team playing great basketball and tough and unselfish."