St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin feels good enough to return to the bench. But he won’t make the same mistake again.
Lavin, who underwent successful prostate cancer surgery on Oct. 6 and has not coached since the 2K Sports Classic on Nov. 17 and 18, said before last night’s game against West Virginia that he came back too early and it likely will prevent him from coaching the rest of the season.
“Hindsight’s 20-20 and naturally now we know I came back prematurely and set myself back,” said Lavin, who watched his team roll past West Virginia, 78-62, from a ninth-floor luxury suite at Madison Square Garden. “The temptation is to think I’m fine and let’s go, but because of that last experience, we’re going to take the conservative approach and make sure that I’m fully recovered before I put myself in harms way again.”
“Because of that experience I’m a better patient and a better listener the second time around. It’s the competitive nature of coaches to think we can take on any task or challenge. When you go through something like this, you realize it’s humbling and we’re fragile and life is very delicate and there’s value in that, in and of itself.”
Lavin is cancer-free and said his energy and stamina are the only things preventing his return. He said he is feeling as well as he did when he initially returned for the Nov. 9 game against Lehigh, but that he will err on the side of caution in order to ensure that he will be able to coach a full season, beginning in the fall.
Lavin, who still is traveling and meeting with recruits, was aT the team’s practice on Monday and said he was as active as he has been since the surgery was performed.
“I’ll definitely be back on the sidelines, but I have to be mindful of the doctor’s advisement and doing what’s best for my health,” Lavin said. “I’m doing a disservice to our current team and our program if I don’t make the prudent choices when it comes to my health.”
“If they say the strenuous aspect of the way you coach is going to put your long-term health in jeopardy, why risk that? With a modified schedule you can still manage the program and still move us forward in terms of recruiting.”
Though the young team has struggled this season without its coach, Lavin already has helped the program by landing Texas A&M point guard Jamal Branch, who should be eligible to play in December.
Lavin recognizes his health issues allow competing coaches to question the stability of the program, but Lavin said it is an issue he addresses immediately, as he did with Branch.
“I brought it up right out of the gate,” Lavin said. “Naturally in recruiting he’s going to hear from all the other schools, speculation, innuendo and rumors, so my inclination is to take that head on and just lay it out. We were able to convince Jamal that this was a great situation in spite of the fact that I’m currently recuperating from prostate cancer.
“There’s an example, kind of proof in the pudding, whether I had cancer or not, it’s still such an attractive situation.We’re still able to sign top prospects and move our program forward.”
howard.kussoy@nypost.com