St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Basketball: Dribble For The Cure Quotes
9/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 22, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head men's basketball coach Steve Lavin
On the Dribble For The Cure event
"One of the great things about St. John's is the three pillars: poverty, education and social justice and this is an opportunity for our players to serve and to realize there are things more important than basketball. Although we are here to play basketball and get an education, we want to take full advantage of opportunities like Dribble For the Cure and the Bread and Life charity. It's important that we revisit what St. John's is all about."
"We talked before practice today about not taking for granted the opportunity to champion a cause like pediatric cancer research and raising awareness and dollars to fight the good fight in finding a cure for cancer."
"We have a great team of people within our Athletic Department that work tirelessly at building and promoting not only the St. John's Athletic Department brand and the basketball programs' brands but also programs like Dribble For The Cure. Once people see it's such a good and worthy cause, and to tie it into a fun day here at St. John's, it's just natural that the momentum just continues to grow."
On his health
"My stamina and having a sense for my own strength, I can tell I'm closer to being back to a level of health that I was at prior to the treatment. I feel more energy and that said you still have to be vigilant on the health front coming off something like a battle with cancer. But I clearly feel in a better place in terms of stamina, strength and conditioning."
On this year's roster
"We're now closer to what I envisioned when I took the job over in 2010. We are probably a year ahead of schedule in terms of our personnel, but I also temper that statement with the fact that it's the youngest team that I've ever coached with eleven freshmen and sophomores. This team is unique because it's the deepest team I've coached and that's been confirmed by former players of mine. Everyone agrees that clearly we are young but the personnel is at a place where we can be on more equal footing with our competition."
On the potential of this year's team
"If we can grow and improve on a daily basis, both individually in terms of skill development and collectively as a group in terms of learning how to play in a cohesive manor and our kids grow up in a hurry because we have to get ready for BIG EAST play, then we can be competitive within our conference and have the opportunity to do something special come March. We know that begins with tomorrow's practice and right on down the road. The old `Hammer To Rock' mentality will let us blaze a trail to lead us to the opportunity to make some noise come March."
Head women's basketball coach Joe Tartamella
On what fans can expect from his team this season:
"They can expect an up-tempo style of play on both ends of the floor. It's a similar style of play with some great new additions to our program but we'll be counting on our core group of senior leadership."
On being part of Dribble for the Cure:
"It's a great event for not only our players but for the community here at St. John's. We had a good turnout last year but this year it looks like we have double the amount of people. It's a great event for a great cause and we're really excited to be a part of it."
On student-athletes volunteering at the event:
"This University was founded on service so we're always looking to help people and help those in need. This just speaks volumes to what our University is about and the outreach to our community. It gives a chance for our players to put a smile on a child's face and I think that's the biggest thing we're trying to accomplish today."
Coach Lou Carnesecca
How does it feel to lend your name to Dribble for the Cure:
"It's the least I could do and the cause is unbelievable. It's great to see how many people came out and it's been a wonderful day."
Advice for first time volunteers:
"Just be yourself, come in, absorb it all and help when you can."
Coach Jack Kaiser
His thoughts on Dribble for the Cure:
"I am really happy to be here and I would do anything I could to be supportive. This is an event that raises funds for pediatric cancer and I think it's one of the best things I've been a part of because the young people who affected by the disease and their parents need help."
On being a part of Dribble for the Cure:
"Even if it's in a small realm, I enjoy helping them raise the funds and to give them publicity. I feel personally gratified to all of the people who are doing this."
John Vallely
"St. John's has always promoted philanthropy, so this is the perfect venue for Dribble For The Cure. Everybody was very excited about the event again this year and my hope is that we continue to make this cause more widely known and raise even more money to eradicate this disease."
Phil Greene
"The Dribble for the Cure event means a lot to the men's basketball team because it gives the children something to look forward to and look up to. They go through a lot because of the pediatric cancer so we're more than happy to give a couple hours out of our day."
Shenneika Smith
"Coming out to an event like this is important because we like to show support for the community. We had a great turnout this year and it says a lot about the character of our team and our school."
