St. John's: The importance of the 2014 season for Steve Lavin

Steve Lavin, the head coach for the St. John's Red Storm since 2010, has not exactly reached the level that was expected of him when he took the job. His best season as the head coach of the Red Storm was in his first season, when the Johnnies went 21-12 and made the NCAA Tournament.

But since then, lackluster results have followed. Lavin has not been to the NCAA Tournament since, and that has made people question him and what he has done with to the program. The thing that has many people getting mad, aside from the two NIT appearances spliced in, is that he has not been holding up on his end of the Big East Conference. The Red Storm have not been producing, and this may be the year for them and for Lavin.

The team simply has to perform better. They did lose JaKarr Sampson and Orlando Sanchez and a few other players, and the Red Storm probably will be at the bottom end of the spectrum of the conference because their Class of 2014 recruiting class does not stack up against schools like Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, and Providence.

The silver lining might be that after After those schools, it will be open season. But, it's imperative that St John's produces.

The fans of the schools want a change to happen after this season. Another poor season for them will not be a good look, so they have to improve not only for their sake, but for the sake of the Big East Conference as well. Lavin has to do a better job at recruiting. This may not be a good season for them, but if they can lock up some highly touted Class of 2015 recruits such as Malik Beasley, Cheick Diallo, and Isaish Briscoe, then that may change the culture of the team, injecting some excitement into this program.

For now, all we can do is speculate, but what's concrete is that this is a crucial season for all involved in Queens, New York.