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Steve Lavin talking new contract with St. John’s

St. John’s and Steve Lavin have discussed a contract extension, the coach told The Post’s Steve Serby in an exclusive interview — and the school later confirmed in a press release.

Lavin, who has two years left after this season on his current six-year deal, was asked whether he wanted to keep coaching the Johnnies.

“Absolutely,” he said. “We have been in discussions working on an extension that would put the contract back to five or six years.”

The 49-year-old Lavin came to Queens in March 2010 after spending seven years working as a broadcaster for ESPN. He inked a six-year deal worth $1.45 million per year.

“Steve is coming to the end of the fourth year in his initial six-year contract and it is an appropriate time to discuss an extension,” St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch said in a statement. “We have certainly had preliminary talks and look forward to revisiting the matter at the conclusion of the season.”

In a statement, Lavin said he is looking forward to coaching St. John’s “for the long-term.”

Lavin led the Johnnies to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, orchestrating a major turnaround and the school’s first berth in The Big Dance in nine years. The former UCLA coach was diagnosed with prostate cancer the following year and underwent surgery, spending much of the 2011-12 season recruiting rather than coaching to reduce stress and recover from the illness.

He has brought in multiple top 10 recruiting classes, has the Johnnies involved with several of the top junior prospects in the country, and St. John’s (19-11, 9-8 Big East) is knocking on the door of the field of 68 again this year, on the bubble entering Saturday’s Big East regular-season finale at Marquette.

“We are putting a foundation in place,” Lavin said in the sitdown interview. “What we need to be able to do now is punch through, and make the NCAA Tournament on a regular basis. We play a nationally competitive schedule. We’re playing on national TV. We’ve signed three consecutive top 10 recruiting classes and we have players on our roster that are gonna have the opportunity to play at the next level.”