St. Johns Red Storm: 5 Potential Steve Lavin Replacements

Rick Barnes

Mar 12, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes reacts to a penalty call in the game against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first round at Sprint Center. Iowa State Cyclones won 69-67. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Barnes was recently fired by the Texas Longhorns, which everyone outside of that program thinks was a poor idea. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as Barnes will not be on the free agent coaching market long. St. John’s is undoubtedly a long shot, and may never even get the chance to talk to Barnes, but they would not be doing their job if they did not at least attempt to get in touch with him.

Barnes is by far the best coach available for any program this offseason, as he led the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament 16 of 17 seasons he coached the team. That is an incredible feat for any coach, but especially for one at a school that is football dominated, where basketball is a distant second.

Things got a little shaky at Texas in recent seasons, but even those supposed poor seasons would be ones a program like St. John’s would have welcomed with open arms. Barnes is an outstanding coach and in a school without a football program taking up everyones interest, he could work wonders.

Again, it is extremely unlikely Barnes ever gets close to coming to St. John’s but if they do not do their due diligence they are not going about this coaching search correctly.

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