KNOXVILLE – Will he stay, or will he go?
Over the next several days St. John’s star forward Ron Artest is expected to decide whether he’ll return to the Red Storm for his junior season or make himself available for the NBA draft. Artest told The Post two weeks ago that when the season ended he would take a 24-hour respite before starting to think about his future.
St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis said yesterday he will begin contacting NBA general managers, if Artest asks him, to gauge where Artest might go in the draft. Several NBA scouts have said Artest would certainly be a lottery pick.
“I have to plan on him not being here,” said Jarvis. “If he is, he is. But a coach always has to plan for the worst.”
Artest picked an inopportune time to come up with one of his worst games of the season. The emotional 6-foot-6 forward from Long Island City wanted so badly to help St. John’s advance to the Final Four that he was not in control of his game in Saturday night’s 77-74 loss to Ohio State in the championship game of the South Regional.
Artest finished with nine points on 4-of-10 shooting, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. But at halftime he had just two points to go along with two personal fouls and five turnovers.
“I forced a lot,” said Artest. “I wasn’t thinking.”
Artest did a hit a 3-pointer with 8:08 remaining that helped St. John’s trim a 13-point deficit to 61-54 and prompted Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien to burn a time out. And late in the game Artest made a steal that led to a three-point play by Lavor Postell. But after the game, when Artest was asked if he were happy to have made some big plays down the stretch, he sounded despondent about his college career.
“I always make big plays down the stretch,” he said. “And we always lose.”
Artest will discuss his decision with his mother Sarah, and his confidante, Riverside Church honcho, Ernie Lorch, over the next few days. But Sarah Artest recently told The Post she knew the decision ultimately would be made by her son, who is engaged and has a 22-month-old daughter, Sadie.
“I hope he will make a decision one way or the other fairly soon,” said Jarvis. “I think Ron wants to be fair to his family and he wants to be fair to St. John’s. My guess is in most cases the decision to leave is made sooner than later.”