St. John’s college basketball coach Steve Lavin will undergo surgery Thursday at the prestigious Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to treat his prostate cancer. Lavin is expected to resume his coaching responsibilities with the Red Storm after a short recovery period.
“The advantage of early detection is that we were afforded the time to research all options,” said Lavin, 47, who has been recruiting this week at Bridgton (Maine) Academy and Brewster (N.H.) Academy.
“After weighing treatment options with the experts at Sloan we have decided surgery is the best path to take for my particular prostate cancer condition. We are confident that this course of treatment will lead to a cancer-free life.”
“We have consulted with Steve and his family about his options, and are confident that surgery is the best option Steve has to make a smooth, quick and full recovery from his relatively low-grade cancer,” said Peter T. Scardino, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The former UCLA coach was hired by St. John’s in April 2010 after seven years as an analyst at ESPN.
But for now basketball takes a back seat to personal health in this story. All of us here at TSB wish him a speedy recovery. As a two time cancer survivor myself, and as someone who personally knows Mr. Lavin, I have no doubt Lav will emerge from this much stronger than ever.