MIKE STOUT
SJU coach staying strong with job audition cut short
Nineteen years later, Mike Hampton had his own program.
Nearly two decades after arriving at St. John’s, he was calling the shots, finally the man in charge after Ed Blankmeyer left to join the Mets as their extended spring training coordinator and manager of the Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones. But just 14 games into his tenure as interim head coach, he was sidelined.
The novel coronavirus pandemic ended his first season — a campaign that was going to go a long way toward determining whether he could land the full-time job — just as it was really getting started, as the beginning of the Big East season neared, on March 12.
“To be honest with you, I just want to get back out there and get back on the field,” Hampton said in a phone interview. “I’ve never had a true spring break, where you’re going on vacation. Having some [free] time is not easy.”
Hampton gets it. He’s not complaining. Not having a full season pales in comparison to the struggles others in New York City are going through as this pandemic terrorizes the area. His focus has been on the well-being of his players, helping them get home, communicating with them and making sure they are staying on top of their classwork. He rarely referred to his own situation, but instead harped on the impact it has had on them, and his job is to communicate with his players.
The toughest part of the cancellation was meeting with his team, not being able to tell his eight seniors what would happen to them, whether they had played their last game. He promised to do everything in his power to make the transition as easy as possible. The NCAA eventually announced all spring athletes would be gaining an extra year of eligibility, providing much-needed relief.
“Most important, right now he understands baseball is not the top priority and he’s focused on our health and well-being,” ace Nick Mondak said. “That says a lot about him and St. John’s as a program.”
Before the virus cut short the season, St. John’s had won two straight games — its first two home contests of the year — to improve to 5-9. Like most northeast programs, the Red Storm spend the better part of the season’s first month on the road due to weather concerns. They started well, topping then-No. 19 Georgia Tech and taking a road series at California, before dropping seven in a row. Hampton, 48, was encouraged by how the team had responded in tough times, and felt it was ready to take off, with a number of home games coming up.
“Then this happened,” said Hampton, a Seaford, Long Island native who was a fourth-round pick out of Clemson in 1994 and reached high Single-A before retiring because of injury.
It remains uncertain if he will wind up the full-time coach in Queens, though athletic director Mike Cragg was complimentary of the job Hampton had done on the field and off it during these trying times, describing his performance as “impressive.” Mondak called it a “smooth” transition going from Blankmeyer to Hampton. The two worked closely together for 18 years, and Hampton didn’t try to change much after taking over. His aim was to continue what Blankmeyer had done in making St. John’s into a northeast power, leading it to five Big East Tournament titles, six regularseason crowns and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 24 years.
“I’ll tell you, it’s frustrating, but things are always happening,” Hampton said. “The one thing I’ve learned is never say never, and anything can happen. I feel that I’ve learned from the best, from Ed Blankmeyer. You’re always making adjustments. Would I have liked to have a perfect season? Yeah, sure, I would have, but that never happens. Whatever challenges that come up, you have to deal with them, and move on, and learn from them, too.”
There’s been plenty of learning and adjusting this year for him. It’s been a wild 2020. On Jan. 9, he was named interim coach, less then five weeks before the season opener. Nearly a month later, the season was over.
“I’m sure when he writes the book on 2020,” Cragg said, “he’s going to have a whole lot of experiences that no one will ever be able to say they had.”