Steve Lavin gets to tweak his coaching staff after today’s announcement that former Rice coach Moe Hicks has resigned immediately to pursue coaching opportunities.
Hicks was a highly successful coach at Rice and was hoping to get a chance to coach on the college level but that never materialized at St. John’s. When Mike Dunlap left to take the Charlotte Bobcats head coaching job, Lavin opted to bring in Darrick Martin rather than promote Hicks.
Lavin is in no rush to fill the position but it’s likely he will promote his assistant, Derrick Wrobel. Hicks, who was one of the city’s major power brokers when he built Rice into a national power, should have opportunities elsewhere.
Calls to Hicks went unanswered.
It’s possible that Lavin will try to bring in a more accomplished X’s and O’s coach. Dunlap, has an encyclopedic basketball mind, wasn’t able to translate that at the NBA level. He went 21-61 with the Bobcats.
St. John’s is poised for a big season. The team will leave on a European trip in August during which freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan and senior forward Orlando Sanchez will have a chance to mesh with returning stars such as JaKarr Sampson and Sir’Dominic Pointer.
Hicks had been with Lavin for three seasons. His hiring was important because it gave Lavin a staff member with solid New York City roots. But as Lavin has focused most of his recruiting nationally, Hicks was not a strong asset on that front.