NEW YORK — Former UCLA coach Steve Lavin agreed to become the basketball coach at St. John’s on Tuesday.
The school said a news conference to introduce Lavin would be held today.
Lavin has been an analyst for ESPN since UCLA fired him in 2003. He had a 145-78 record with UCLA, leading the school to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 five times. The Bruins reached the final eight in 1997, his first season.
St. John’s, which fired Norm Roberts after six seasons, has not been to the NCAAs since 2002.
Lavin said his first order of business would be to assemble a staff.
“That’s my No. 1 priority,” he said. “I want assistants who are strong in the Northeast with recruiting ties, and I want to look for people who have had experience as a head coach.”
Ducks, Dixon rumors.
Oregon has not contacted Pittsburgh for permission to talk to Jamie Dixon about its coaching opening, Panthers athletic director Steve Pederson said.
Pat Kilkenny, the former Oregon AD who is leading the Ducks’ search, and Dixon were in New York last weekend, leading to speculation the two had talked.
UTEP hires Floyd.
UTEP hired former USC coach Tim Floyd as its new basketball coach.
Floyd replaces Tony Barbee, who left UTEP last week to take the head coaching job at Auburn.
Toledo hires Kowalczyk.
Toledo hired Wisconsin- Green Bay coach Tod Ko- walczyk to revive its men’s basketball program.
Footnotes.
Chris Johnson scored 22 points, and Dayton (24-12) held off Mississippi (24-11) 68-63 in the NIT semifinals in New York.
• Deon Thompson had 16 points to lead North Carolina over Rhode Island 68-67 in overtime to reach the NIT title game.
• UCLA dismissed sophomore center J’mison Morgan from the team.
• Caleb Patterson scored 16 points to lead Missouri State to a 78-65 win over Pacific to claim the Tournament.
The Associated Press
