Gene Keady is calm before the Storm

Hours before Friday's Midnight Madness event at St. John's, a veteran coach strolled into practice at Taffner Field House on the Queens campus and instantly grabbed the team's attention.

Except it wasn't Steve Lavin. It was former Purdue coach Gene Keady, the team's new special advisor. The 74-year-old former Purdue coach measured his words and told the squad to slow everything down, and they couldn't help listening.

"We were just sucking it in," said freshman forward Dwayne Polee. "He's so wise, you just have to listen."

That's a good thing for the Red Storm, who officially announced Keady's hiring Friday. Lavin has long been known as an exceptional recruiter, and he has St. John's abuzz, something that was evident Friday night. A few years ago, the school's Midnight Madness was hardly noteworthy, but Lavin changed that this year. ESPN anchor John Anderson emceed, and ESPNU's Doug Gottlieb was on hand.

But while Lavin has excelled in creating excitement, he's hardly known as a tactician - and that's where Keady comes in. Keady, who spent 27 years in the NCAA - the last 25 at Purdue - brings savvy to the staff. As a special advisor, he's prohibited from sitting on the bench during games, but Lavin said he'd gladly hand his mentor the dry-erase board during planning meetings.

"You're looking at someone with an 825-win perspective," Lavin said, referring to Keady's success at all levels of basketball. "So you know, a 75-year-old perspective with 800-plus wins. …His experience, his expertise is a real benefit. And he's got that grandfatherly presence. It never hurts to have a wise old owl."

So much so that Lavin started coaxing Keady out of retirement as soon as he got the St. John's job. Keady stepped down at Purdue in 2005, after building the Boilermakers into a regular Big Ten contender, then spent one year as a Toronto Raptors assistant. All the while, he regularly communicated with Lavin, a former grad assistant. The two are so close that when Lavin got married three years ago, Keady served in his wedding party.

When Lavin got the Red Storm job, he immediately called Keady and mentioned a possible role.

"I would not have gone to work for anyone else except Steve," Keady said. "He's a special friend."

And for Red Storm, that couldn't be any better.

"With his history, he's going to help us out," said senior swingman D.J. Kennedy. "We can learn so much from him."

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