Former UCLA coach Steve Lavin to interview for St. John’s job

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Former UCLA men’s basketball coach Steve Lavin will be interviewed for the St. John’s head coaching vacancy, the Associated Press is reporting.

Lavin went 145-78 in his eight years as the Bruins’ head coach, leading them to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 five times and the round of eight in 1997, his first season at the helm. He was fired in 2003 after the team went 10-19, UCLA’s worst record in 61 seasons and its first losing season since 1947-48, and notched a second straight sixth-place finish in the Pacific 10 Conference.

He has served as a basketball analyst for ESPN since then.

St. John’s, which has not made it to the NCAA tournament since 2002, recently fired six-year coach Norm Roberts. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt turned down the job last week, and Boston College’s Al Skinner interviewed on Friday.

-- Chuck Schilken