Skinner waits as St. John's pursues Lavin

While Boston College coach Al Skinner still is considered a candidate for the St. John's job, the Red Storm appear to focusing on former UCLA  coach and current ESPN  analyst Steve Lavin. According to an ESPN report, Lavin spoke with St. John's athletic director Chris Monasch Sunday night and was expected to have another discussion Monday. The Boston Globe reported that one factor working against Skinner is his desire to bring all of his assistants from BC with him. St. John's wants someone on the staff with stronger ties to the New York AAU scene. Lavin reportedly would hire Dave Leitao, a former assistant at UConn and head coach at Northeastern (his alma mater), DePaul and, most recently, Virginia. Multiple reports indicate St. John's also has interest in Temple's Fran Dunphy, Rhode Island's Jim Baron and Cornell's Steve Donahue, but none of those three has interviewed. Meanwhile, Northeastern coach Bill Coen, a former BC  assistant, reportedly is a leading candidate for the opening at Siena, which lost Fran McCaffery to Iowa. And, according to The Associated Press, Seton Hall has tapped Iona's Kevin Willard, a onetime Celtics assistant under Rick Pitino who is the son of former Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard.