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Who will Steve Lavin choose to replace Mike Dunlap at St. John’s?

The St. John’s staff has welcomed the positives that come along with sending a coach to the NBA, but there now comes the less glamorous side of the departure: realizing his importance and finding a replacement.

For his two seasons in Queens, Dunlap was Lavin’s in-game tactician, spending much of the 2011-12 season filling in for him as head coach, while Lavin recovered from prostate surgery.

From an X’s-and-O’s standpoint, Dunlap was one of the best in the country at the college level and, with assistant Tony Chiles, who is the Red Storm’s recruiting go-to man, and Rico Hines, who can recruit and develop talent, it would seem likely that St. John’s would look for another Dunlap-type coach to fill his spot.

Jon Rothstein of CBS and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv have compiled a list of possible candidates, categorized below.

The Former Players

Lavin could bring someone with ties to his former employer, UCLA, to fill the gap, which, according to Zagoria could Gerald Madkins. Madkins has served in the New Orleans Hornets’ front office and as a college assistant.

He could also go with Earl Watson, one of his former players at UCLA, who, as a recruiter, could pitch Lavin’s ability to move players to the NBA. Watson, 33, played for the Utah Jazz last season.

The TV Analysts

Rothstein and Zagoria both mention Paul Biancardi, the former Wright State coach who now works as a national recruiting analyst for ESPN. He could, again, work well as a recruiter, as he has connections at the grassroots and high school level.

Tim O’Toole is also mentioned. O’Toole served as Fairfield’s head coach from 1998-2006 and is now a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

Other Names

Barry Rohrssen, Former Manhattan coach

Tom Abatemarco, Colorado assistant coach

Frank Allocco, De La Salle head coach

Jim Boylen, Indiana Pacers assistant; former Utah head coach

Tim Grgurich, Former NBA assistant coach

Darrick Martin, Former UCLA and NBA player

Lane Odom, Former college assistant

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_