Evaluating Mike Anderson’s first 100 days at St. John’s

Since replacing Chris Mullin in April, Mike Anderson has turned murky St. John’s future into reasonable optimism as Red Storm prepares to navigate 2019-20 season. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

St. John’s hire of Mike Anderson this past April as its newest head men’s basketball coach raised eyebrows across the country, and was met by more than a fair share of critics who not only panned athletic director Mike Cragg’s decision to hire a coach who — despite having never had a losing season in his 17-year career — had no ties to the New York area, and whose furthest northern foray into Division I had been his five-year stint at the University of Missouri; but also, the meandering search process that filled the gap between Chris Mullin’s resignation and Anderson’s arrival, a circuitous journey in which three candidates turned down offers — and one other, Iona’s Tim Cluess, a logical fit given his success with the Gaels and family history at St. John’s — removed himself from consideration.

Since his April 19 press conference, though, Anderson has gone about his business in his new locale the same way he has in each of his three prior head coaching stops, actively recruiting and developing his incumbent talent. The grinder mentality has helped dispel the notion that St. John’s would be rebuilding in the 2019-20 season, as several key pieces remain from last year’s NCAA Tournament outfit to help shepherd the transition into a new era of Red Storm basketball. And just as every new President of the United States is usually evaluated for the first time after his first hundred days on the job, so too is Mike Anderson through a similar timeframe eclipsed this weekend on the corner of Union and Utopia:

STAFF: A-
With a coach admittedly unfamiliar with St. John’s Northeast territory, hiring assistant coaches well acquainted with the terrain was essential to the Red Storm’s short-term survival. Aside from longtime deputy TJ Cleveland, Anderson addressed that need with the additions of Van Macon and Steve DeMeo, both New York natives who served under Tom Pecora and Mo Cassara, respectively, at Hofstra. Macon also has Big East experience from his time under Mike Rice at Rutgers, and has already been active on the recruiting trail, as has DeMeo. Chris Huey, Mullin’s former graduate assistant, was held over as the new director of basketball operations, and former NBA player Paul Pressey was brought in as Anderson’s special assistant, lending further gravitas to a staff that could prove to be one of the more underrated units in the Big East.

RECRUITING: B+
After Shamorie Ponds and Justin Simon both elected to forgo their senior seasons, coupled with the graduation of Marvin Clark, recruiting was a major point of emphasis for the Red Storm, and the coaching change forced Anderson to hit the ground running. In his three short months, Anderson shored up the massive point guard hole created by Ponds’ exodus, signing freshman John McGriff and backing it up with the arrival of graduate transfer Nick Rutherford by way of Monmouth. St. John’s is also currently planning to host former St. Francis Brooklyn combo guard Rasheem Dunn — a high school teammate of Ponds at Thomas Jefferson in Brooklyn — for a visit this week after Dunn transferred from Cleveland State. In the frontcourt, junior college arrival Damien Sears is a 6-foot-7, 230-pound bruiser who can be a deceptive rebounding threat, and Bishop Loughlin forward Julian Champagnie reclassified a year early to play for his father’s alma mater.

As far as the incumbent roster, Anderson’s biggest commitments were received in the form of both Mustapha Heron and LJ Figueroa — the Red Storm’s most productive returning players — coming back to Queens for their senior and junior seasons, respectively. The duo will most likely garner preseason all-Big East honors while a supporting cast led by burgeoning sophomores Josh Roberts and Greg Williams continues to develop.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: B+
The majority of St. John’s slate was formulated before Mullin’s departure in April, so Anderson inherits a non-league ledger that features a neutral-site game against Arizona and a potential matchup with reigning national champion Virginia in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena, not to mention former Big East adversary West Virginia at Madison Square Garden.. Solid foes such as perennial America East contender Vermont are also on a schedule that will see mounds of opportunities for early wins for a program hoping to establish itself as often as possible before conference play begins.

OVERALL PROGRAM PRESENCE: A
This is arguably the most distinct difference between Mullin and Anderson, as the new Red Storm coach has made sure either he or his assistants have checked in at almost every major offseason recruiting event this spring and summer, gaining valuable face time for an oft-forgotten program on the national scene. This was something Mullin and his staff had become maligned for over the years, after the St. John’s legend boasted about knowing how to get to every gym in the area. With all due respect, it did land Shamorie Ponds in red and white, but the majority of early returns have Anderson exceeding expectations thus far, as a bevy of 2020 and 2021 recruits have continued to keep the Red Storm high among their lists.