SYRACUSE — Reality arrived yesterday when the St. John’s players walked into the visitor’s locker room at the Carrier Dome and saw the message written on the grease board:
Do It For Cappy.
The sobering, saddening news that their coach, Steve Lavin, had lost his beloved father, Albert “Cappy” Lavin, 82, overnight from an accumulation of long-time health issues, came just before the team breakfast. Seeing the words on the board brought the pain into focus and clouded their basketball minds.
“I don’t know, it was crazy, I can’t explain it,’’ guard D’Angelo Harrison said. “It was just quiet in the room.’’
Lavin was not on the bench for the Red Storm’s 77-58 loss to No. 9 Syracuse. He left yesterday morning, destination San Francisco and mourning.
His players — none of whom had ever played in this Grand Canyon of hoops or in front of this large a crowd (27,169) — took the court with heavy hearts.
“When your leader’s not there, your coach that you go to battle for, you fight for in practice, who recruited you to come in, it’s hard to play without your leader, you know?’’ said forward JaKarr Sampson, who scored a team-high 21 points.
This was not a death with one degree of separation for the Johnnies. They all met Cappy in early December, when St. John’s lost at San Francisco. Syracuse, a team that got stronger yesterday with the return of Queens swingman James Southerland, took advantage of the Red Storm’s emotional state.
The Orange (20-3, 8-2 Big East) jumped on the mourning Johnnies, surging to a 29-15 lead and a 37-24 halftime advantage. They forced St. John’s into 11 first-half turnovers, which is how many the Red Storm had averaged per game. Credit assistant coach Rico Hines, who moved into the first chair in Lavin’s absence, with making this a game.
“We had a great spirited talk at halftime,’’ Hines said. “They kind of let it all hang out a little bit after halftime.’’
Did they ever. St. John’s scored the first five points of the second half to close to 37-29 and force Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to call a timeout. The Orange responded, and that was the tale of the second half. The Johnnies got it to 48-43 with 11:45 left, only to see Syracuse push back and extend its lead to 58-45.
If Cappy and Steve had been watching, they would have admired the Red Storm’s grit.
“It showed a glimpse of what we have inside of us,’’ forward Amir Garrett said. “It showed a glimpse of the team we could become.’’
The Johnnies (15-9, 7-5) still have a chance at an at-large NCAA Tournament berth, but suddenly that has become a much tougher task. St. John’s plays at Louisville on Thursday and it isn’t known if Lavin will be back by then. Point guard Jamal Branch, who missed his second straight game with a left knee injury, is questionable.
All of that can wait. There are funeral plans to be made and mourning to be done. Cappy endeared himself to these players.
“When I met him, he was like, ‘Amir, keep getting those rebounds,’ ’’ Garrett said. “I was like, ‘Man, he pays attention.’ He talked to everybody individually about their game. That’s impressive. He’s out there listing every little thing. I really thought that was amazing, that he would pay attention to everyone individually.’’
Cappy, a Bay Area legend, was devoted to his family, education and basketball. He and his wife, Mary, were married for some 60 years. They had six children, Steve the youngest. Cappy wrote 19 books and co-founded the Bay Area Writing Project at Cal-Berkeley.
When famed director Francis Ford Coppola needed a free-throw instructor to teach Robin Williams, he called on Cappy.
The St. John’s basketball family knew this day might be coming. After last Saturday’s loss at Georgetown, Lavin flew home to visit with Cappy. Lavin knew he would remember that as 30 of the most worthwhile hours he has ever spent.
“Coach is an emotional guy, and you know how much he loved Cap, how much we all loved him,’’ Hines said. “Obviously, he’s been battling for a while, but there’s a never a time where you can prepare for the loss of somebody that you love so dearly.’’