St. John’s has too many cooks in coaching search kitchen

With Tim Cluess turning down St. John’s, signs point toward athletic director Mike Cragg not being able to freely do his job.

After Chris Mullin’s resignation last week, the appeal of coaching St. John’s basketball is at best unclear. Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, Loyola-Chicago coach Porter Moser and UMBC coach Ryan Odom have surfaced as candidates, with Iona coach Tim Cluess emerging as the favorite. But on Thursday morning, Cluess took his name out of consideration for the job.

Cluess released a lengthy statement on the matter, and one sentence stands out as critical of the process at St. John’s.

“There comes a point where the reality of the situation becomes more clear and moving forward is what is needed.”

Cluess is a New York native, and he played at St. John’s from 1979-1981. Over nine seasons at Iona, he has led the Gaels to six NCAA Tournaments. So under less than ideal circumstances after Mullin stepped down, he was as close to a slam-dunk candidate and ideal hire as there could be for St. John’s.

In an interview with Mike Francesa on WFAN Wednesday, St. John’s booster Mike Repole called the culture at the school toxic. He also pointed to school president Bobby Gempeshaw and vice president of administration, secretary and general counsel Joe Oliva standing in the way of first-year athletic director Mike Cragg making the hire he wants.

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman appeared to back that sentiment up.

Athletic directors don’t always make the right coaching hires. But Cragg was presumably brought in from Duke on the presumption of clear authority to make those decisions, without blatant interference. It seems he’s being, essentially, neutered in the search to replace Mullin. Cluess citing “the reality of the situation” serves as direct evidence.

As for where St. John’s goes from here, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports has reported a few candidates, including Yale coach James Jones, who is set to interview on Thursday. Goodman quickly dismissed one candidate, former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson, which says something about the appeal of the job more than serving as a dismissal of Norlander’s source.

UCLA made a mess of their search for a new men’s basketball coach, before landing Mick Cronin. St. John’s may eventually get someone who similarly wants the job, and isn’t using them as leverage for a new contract. But in the immediate wake of Cluess removing himself from consideration, landing that type of candidate has taken a big hit.