St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Basketball: BIG EAST Media Day
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 22, 2014
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On the BIG EAST Conference:
"It's a deeper league this year. Realistically, we could have five or six teams vying for NCAA Tournament berths coming down the stretch. The members of this conference make up a very strong basketball league."
On recruiting:
"It comes down to where the players are and that's where we'll go. When Maurice Harkless was in our backyard, we signed him. When Chris Obekpa was in Long Island, we signed him. But, when you get a chance to get a D'Angelo Harrison out of Texas, Phil Greene out of Chicago, JaKarr Sampson out of Ohio or Rysheed Jordan out of Philadelphia, you go out and find them."
On expectations:
"Our expectations are greater than what you see in the preseason polls because we want to see our seniors succeed. You have this group with 98 games of college basketball experience which is dramatically different than when they arrived to the program when there wasn't a single person on the roster with college experience. We want to see these kids finish in the appropriate manner."
Senior Guard D'Angelo Harrison
On the team's maturity over the last year:
"We've grown a lot as a team over the past season and we're looking forward to a big year. Having experience this year is big. We have most of our guys back and we are just looking forward to having a good season."
Senior Guard Jamal Branch
On learning from last season:
"This year we want to come in and just give it our all. We have a good group of seniors this year and we are just taking a mature mindset into the season. We're in a good place right now."
Senior Guard Phil Greene IV
On having a solid group of seniors:
"It's going to help us a lot this year. We've been together for four years so we know each other and we're comfortable with the system together. We know what we have to do and we are ready to get back to work."
Senior Guard/Forward Sir'Dominic Pointer
On expectations for this season:
"We are seniors this year so this is our last go around. Our maturity and leadership is what will help us get to the [NCAA] Tournament. I feel like we have a complete team this year and it would be a great accomplishment for our school, our fans and our seniors to get to the Tournament."
Junior Center/Forward Chris Obekpa
On the senior leadership:
"They have four years of experience together so the bond is stronger now. Even the guys coming in now are catching up and we have them under our wing. The bond we have this year is different than last year and every year we just keep growing."
