Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Turn Around
bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart.And I need you now, and I need you more than ever.
To [St. John's University coach Norm] Roberts, that means leaving no stone unturned - and no gym unvisited - in the effort to restock a program that has only four returning scholarship players.
"As far as reconnecting with city coaches and the AAU programs, I would give them a grade of an A," St. Raymond's coach Oliver Antigua said.
Roberts began by attending the first Catholic league coaches meeting held after he was hired. "He wanted to make sure he got to know all of us and told us St. John's was our program. I was really impressed with that," Antigua said. "From that day on he's been active and involved and calling coaches and inviting them to his office and stopping by open gyms and saying hello."
In six years at St. Raymond's, Antigua never was invited to St. John's until Roberts got the job. Christ the King coach Bob Oliva has seen Roberts four times since June; Oliva said Jarvis came to CK's gym once in his five-plus years. Gary Charles, coach of the summer powerhouse Long Island Panthers, was conducting practice with his 15-and-under team when Roberts called to invite them to Alumni Hall.
