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St. Louis’ Whitesell to replace Hicks on SJU basketball staff

St. Louis’ Whitesell to replace Hicks on SJU basketball staff
Photo courtesy St. John’s University
By Joseph Staszewski

St. John’s University men’s basketball head Coach Steve Lavin announced the hiring of former St. Louis associate head Coach Jim Whitesell to his coaching staff for this season.

Whitesell, who has 31 years of college coaching experience, fills the spot opened when Director of Basketball Operations Moe Hicks recently resigned to look to return to the coaching ranks in some capacity.

“Jim Whitesell’s numerous coaching stops and 24 years of head coaching experiences at the highest levels of collegiate competition is a nice complement to our specialized staff,” Lavin said.

Whitsell spent the last two seasons as the associate head coach for the nationally ranked Billikens during a pair of NCAA Tournament runs in 2011-12 and 2012-13, where St. Louis’ combined record was 54-15. Prior to that he spent seven seasons as the head coach at Loyola (Chicago) after stops at Division II Lewis University (Ill.) (1992-2004) and NCAA Division III Elmhurst College (Ill.) (1987-92). Whitesell compiled a career record 387-301 in 24 seasons.

“The opportunity to work with Steve Lavin and his staff is incredible as Steve is building a very special program at SJU,” Whitesell said. “I am looking forward to being part of it and helping in any way possible.”

Darrick Martin, in his second year at St. John’s, takes over as the program’s director of operations for Hicks. They are not allowed by NCAA rules to have the same recruiting and on-court instruction time as regular assistant coaches. No specific position or destination was given for Hicks.

“We appreciate Moe’s efforts and wish him the best as he returns to his passion of coaching basketball,” Lavin said.

Hicks, one of the most successful high school coaches in New York City history, was brought in by Lavin to give his staff a coach with strong ties to New York City players and its travel ball community. Hicks won five State Federation titles and six CHSAA Class AA intersectional city championships during his 16 years at Rice. He was involved with New York Gauchos, which produced a number of the city’s top players each year. He will take his experience at St. John’s with him into his future coaching endeavors.

“It has been a great experience working at St. John’s under Coach Lavin. He has built a national program and I wish him and the team all the best,” Hicks said.

He did not get a chance to return to a full-time coaching role with the Red Storm. Hicks was passed over by Lavin when top assistant Mike Dunlap left to be the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats two years ago. Lavin hired Darrick Martin instead of promoting Hicks.