St. John’s Booster Mike Repole Says Coaching Search is ‘National Embarrassment’

St. John's booster Mike Repole called the culture at the school "toxic" and blamed the administration for the state of the basketball program in its coaching search.

A St. John's booster and alumnus, Mike Repole, called the culture at the school "toxic" and blamed the administration for the state of the basketball program as it searches for a new coach. 

Multiple coaches, including Loyola's Porter and Iona's Tim Cluess, have turned down St. John's in the past few days. The school is searching a replacement for Chris Mullin who stepped down last week. Repole called the board of trustees "clueless"

"I think we need a president’s search first," Repole said in an interview with WFAN's Mike Francesa. "They need a new president. The culture at St. John’s right now is toxic. … It’s not fixable with the current senior leadership."

Repole, 50, founded Vitaminwater and is the owner of Bodyarmor SuperDrink. Four years ago, Repole pushed for the school to go after Danny Hurley, the current Connecticut coach. He accused university president Bobby Gempesaw and vice president for administration Joe Oliva for getting in the way then and once again hampering ahtletic director Mike Cragg for hiring a new coach this time around.

"This is not a New York laughingstock anymore," Repole said. "We are now a national embarrassment. If you thought Chris Mullin’s 1-17 year [2015-16 in the Big East] was bad, next year’s going to be 0-18. We may not suit up next year. Maybe take a pass."