The trading floor at midtown financial giant BTIG was organized chaos. Employees screamed out orders. Others yelled to pick up “Line 2!”
Then the stars rolled in: Joe Girardi, Bobby Valentine, Bode Miller, Tom Coughlin, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Sarah Mutch, half the cast of “The Sopranos” and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin.
Yes, hobnobbing with the Page Six stars was the new face of the Red Storm. This is the eighth year BTIG held its “Commissions for Charity” trading day and never before had a St. John’s coach been invited.
This is the new St. John’s. This is the kind of star power Lavin, the former UCLA coach, fits in with like beer and pretzels.
“It was cool,” Lavin told The Post. “It had a West Coast vibe with all these celebrities and the East Coast intensity of the financial sector. It was a buzz.”
Lavin created his own buzz yesterday. Two sources told The Post that Los Angeles prep star Dwayne Polee Jr. has decided to head east to play for Lavin.
The 6-foot-7 swingman with Empire State Building leaping ability chose the Johnnies over Georgia, UNLV, UTEP, USC and a late push from Oregon. He is Lavin’s first recruit and offsets his loss for the day: He failed to execute his trade with a broker at BTIG’s San Francisco office.
“Better not quit my day job,” said Lavin who is not permitted to discuss recruits until the university receives a signed letter of intent. That is expected to arrive today.
“I really like coach Lav and his staff,” Polee Jr. told The Post. “And I like the idea of helping St. John’s get back to being great. It’s a program with great tradition.”
Commissions for Charity was founded by BTIG general partner Steven Starker, a Brooklyn native who was cut from his Muhlenberg College hoops team but made it big in finance. He attends Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s basketball camp each year.
“It the best basketball camp for short, white, bald, 40-year-old guys in the country,” quipped Starker, who was smart enough to hop on an office chair so he could appear taller than the 5-foot-11 Mutch. “I’m a diehard Duke fan, but Lavin’s got that star power. St. John’s could be my top local if he gets it going.”
Lavin already has it going. With Polee in the fold, he is continuing his recruitment of Remi Barry, another 6-foot-7 swingman from Sacramento. Barry has put his decision on hold until he completes this semester.
A West Coast source told The Post that Polee intends on reaching out to Barry to discuss the prospects of playing together. Lavin’s last recruit at UCLA was Trevor Ariza, who attended Westchester High in L.A., where Polee currently is enrolled.