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Coaching search update catch-up: Danny Hurley out of the running?

St. John's looking at a number of candidates... including Rick Pitino, the elder?

By Norman Rose
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It's only been two days since St. John' and Steve Lavin agreed to part ways, and a lot of action has gone down. DePaul has moved on from Bobby Hurley and Bryce Drew and hired their former head coach, Dave Leitao - the former Connecticut assistant who spent four middling seasons at the University of Virginia before being let go. St. John's doesn't yet seem to have a candidate in front, but it's hard to know what action is going on behind the scenes.

Here's what's happening around St. John's.

  1. Richard Pitino, Minnesota's head coach, is not interested in the job.
  2. Danny Hurley, probably the best candidate for the Red Storm in terms of experience, skill and recruiting connections [see our profile], is likely to stay at the University of Rhode Island.
  3. Louisville coach, the elder Rick Pitino's name has been floated for the St. John's head coaching gig. [Seems unlikely, says this editor, but apparently this rumor has legs.]
  4. Manhattan coach Steve Masiello [see our profile] is still a strong candidate for the St. John's job, but Hall of Fame alum Chris Mullin, currently a special assistant with the Sacramento Kings, may be the leading candidate.

Is Bobby Hurley going to re-emerge as a candidate? No intel yet, but the fact that Danny Hurley has likely backed off the St. John's job may mean that Bobby is interested; the brothers supposedly do not want to compete for the same job.

Is Chris Mullin a viable candidate - and is he a step backwards? Not likely, though he will need to hire an experienced X's and O's coach (as Lavin did when he hired Mike Dunlap for two years) and a recruiter to help him get in the door locally and nationally.

St. John's returns Amar Alibegovic, Felix Balamou, partial qualifier Adonis Delarosa and walk-ons Myles Stewart and Jay Henderson. Rysheed Jordan and Chris Obekpa are waiting to see what St. John's does with a new coach before making their decisions to stay or leave, though both were strongly rumored to plan to leave after this season.

Next year will be a struggle, no matter what coach is in place for St. John's.

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