When the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, it ended 54 years of hell on ice and the city was infused with an exhilarating air of euphoria.
The Rangers added Wayne Gretzky the next season, not because he was still the greatest but because he was the Great One. There never can be enough stars in this city, and teams can’t afford an off year.
College basketball in this town hasn’t had an off-year, it’s had an off-decade with this season being the apocalypse.
No local team made the NCAA Tournament, and no local made it out of the first round of the NIT.
The tombstone read: “Here Lies the Former Mecca of College Basketball.”
But history will show that on March 31, 2010, there was a basketball Renaissance in the Mecca.
On the same day that St. John’s introduced Steve Lavin, Seton Hall introduced Kevin Willard and Tim Welsh was hired at Hofstra.
Just days earlier, Tom Pecora went to Fordham, and former Manhattan and St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla is under strong consideration at Iona.
“It would be great to have the buzz back in the city,” Big East commissioner John Marinatto told The Post. “We’ve always considered New York our second home.”
The buzz arrived in the form of Lavin, 45, and his actress wife, Mary Ann Jarou. They are the Brangelina of the college basketball couples.
Not since Lou Carnesecca does it seem plausible for a St. John’s coach to walk into a recruit’s home before or after Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun or Rick Pitino and win the day.
Lavin has begun addressing his staff. Former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who gave Lavin his first job, will be on the staff. He will be the Calhoun’s Blaney or Boeheim’s Bernie Fine or Pitino’s Ralph Willard.
Lavin seemed cautious when asked if any of the current St. John’s assistants would be retained, and he certainly understands the risk of hiring an AAU or prep coach and alienating other programs.
Sources told The Post that he has Book Richardson, the former Gauchos director of operations now at Sean Miller’s Arizona staff, on his radar. Former Virginia coach Dave Leitao and Loyola of Maryland coach Jimmy Patsos also are under strong consideration.
Willard has taken Shaheen Holloway to Seton Hall. Pecora is close with Gary Charles and Kimani Young. Welsh has Steve DeMeo in his fold.
“New York is really on fire,” college basketball ambassador Dick Vitale told The Post. “It’s good for the city. They need to get the Garden rocking again. It’s been an embarrassment. We keep saying it’s the Mecca. Let it be the Mecca again.”
The long held conviction is that when St. John’s is good, it helps basketball throughout the metropolitan area from college to grass roots.
Lavin, who went 145-78 in seven seasons at UCLA, wants to make the Taffner practice facility, where yesterday’s press conference was held, open to prep and AAU teams. He knows similar factions in Los Angeles are at play in New York.
“For us to be successful for the long haul, it’s going to take a collaborative effort,” Lavin said. “The camaraderie will help us all.”
St. John’s has never won a national championship in basketball, but if it did, the Giants, Rangers and Yankees know the euphoric route down the Canyon of the Heroes.
“When the buzz is back in New York, from a college basketball standpoint, it’s as good as anywhere,” Pitino, the Louisville coach, said. “This should be a fascinating time.”
lenn.robbins@nypost.com