Marcus LoVett, St. John's
Getting To Know: St. John's Marcus LoVett
In our latest installment of “Getting to Know,” we go one-on-one with St. John’s freshman phenom Marcus LoVett. The Johnnies top-shelf talent fills us in on why he chose St. John’s, what he has learned from his Hall of Fame coach, what it’s like to share one of the top young backcourts in the country with fellow fab frosh Shamorie Ponds and where he sees the up-and-coming St. John’s program going – and soon.
BIGEAST.com: How does a guy who played his high school ball in California and Chicago wind up coming to Queens to play for St. John’s?
LOVETT: “It was because of Chris Mullin and the opportunity to be coached by him. I thought that would be beneficial for me to help me evolve as a player and a person off the court. That was really the main reason why I came to New York. I get to work with him and you can’t get a better situation than that.”
BIGEAST.com: You were forced to sit out last year due to NCAA regulations and you only found out just before the season was about to tip off. How tough a year was it for you?
LOVETT: “It was tough due to the fact that I couldn’t go out there and compete with my teammates and help them out there. That was the disappointing part about it. But other than that I took a lot out of it, like getting used to the college system and getting used to the flow of the game and learning what I could do out there and what I needed to improve on.”
BIGEAST.com: So you used the time off as a learning experience?
LOVETT: “Yeah, no doubt. I learned about how (Mullin) wanted things done and how I could affect the game out there (when he would become eligible) and how I could make others around me better. It was definitely helpful, off the court as well with school and things like that. So it was very helpful for me to sit out that year.”
BIGEAST.com: What are some of the key things you’ve learned under coach since you came to St. John’s?
LOVETT: “I learned each and every day at practice that there is a certain order that you have to do things in order to be successful, which he knows because he’s a Hall of Famer. Everybody wants to get to where he is and if you listen to him you can get there.”
BIGEAST.com: Because Chris Mullin is a Hall of Famer, do the things he says carry a lot more weight because of his resume?
LOVETT: “No doubt. Again that’s the reason why I came to this school, to be coached by him. So yeah anything he says, it weighs a lot because he’s been in every position that I’m trying to get to. So my ears are always open to what he’s saying.”
BIGEAST.com: Moving on to this season, St. John’s has one of the more exciting young backcourts in the nation. So how much fun is it sharing a backcourt with Shamorie Ponds?
LOVETT: “Oh I love it. It’s so beautiful and a lot of fun. It’s amazing being out there and having a player like Shamorie playing with me. I’m blessed to be teammates with him and I’m pretty sure he feels the same way. We just want to keep our relationship nice and tight and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
BIGEAST.com: St. John’s won just one conference game last year. How much better is the talent level on this year’s team compared to last year?
LOVETT: “Oh this year’s team is a lot better. We still have some players from last year which I feel have developed after playing last year. But we’re still young but we have a good group of guys who are willing to listen and to work hard so the sky is the limit for this team. I’m just so happy that I’m a part of this group.”
BIGEAST.com: You and Shamorie are tied for fifth in the conference in scoring at 17.2 points a game. Did you anticipate coming in and having this kind of impact in your first year?
LOVETT: “In some ways, yes. But the bottom line is I was just trying to come in and facilitate and get others involved. That’s my job as a point guard, to get people in situations where they can score the ball. Any way I can help us get a win, that’s what I’m trying to do. So me not scoring at all, or me playing defense, or getting a steal or whatever the case may be, I’m going to do it. I want to win badly.”
BIGEAST.com: Is there any kind of friendly rivalry between you and Shamorie?
LOVETT: “I don’t think there is any kind of rivalry or anything like that. Our relationship, there is no rivalry about it. When it comes to game time, I want him to go out there and really succeed and do his thing out there.”
BIGEAST.com: So do you guys kind of feed off each other in games?
LOVETT: “Oh no doubt we feed off each other. When he’s the hot hand we know we have to get him the ball and we work around him and vice versa (with LoVett). When both of us are on it’s really hard to stop us and that’s what we talk about a lot. That’s what we know we have to do.”
BIGEAST.com: A lot of the best talent on St. John’s roster is young, beginning with you and Shamorie. So how close would you say St. John’s is to rising up the standings and competing to be one of the top teams in the conference, like Villanova?
LOVETT: “I feel like we’re really close. Now it’s just really about locking down the principles of what the coaches are teaching us and to do it for 40 minutes. We’ve shown this season that we are capable of hanging with those top teams and I think we can be one of those teams up there as well. We just have to do it for 40 minutes and just play hard.”