When I spoke to St. John's coach Norm Roberts a few months back, he joked good-naturedly about how hot it was in his office.

You see, I had put him on the dreaded Hot Seat list. You know, the one where we speculate on the coaches that need to win now.

Roberts' seat has cooled off, especially after the Red Storm have come out of the gates with quality wins against Siena and Temple this past weekend.

Roberts had received stellar play from D.J. Kennedy (17.4 ppg) so far this season in the team's 5-0 start, particularly since Anthony Mason is still about three weeks away, according to Roberts.

"We don't want to rush him back," Roberts said.

Dwight Hardy has also come in and made an impact, but the contributions have really been up and down the roster – and the quality depth is what makes this St. John's team different than its predecessors under Roberts.

Roberts said that guys like Omari Lawrence, Malik Stith and Justin Brownlee all stepped up against Siena, but it was Kennedy who took over in the last six minutes.

"We're a more experienced team," Roberts said. "And we’re tougher."

"We're making plays with the game on the line," he added.

The first big test for St. John's comes later this week when the Red Storm travel to Duke to play a top 10 team.

CLOSE SHAVE

William & Mary coach Tony Shaver understood why his team was picked to finish near the bottom (10th of the 12 teams) of the CAA this season.

"We didn't have a good year last season," Shaver said. "We didn't play as well as we were capable of."

The Tribe gave UConn a scare in Storrs in this year's season opener and then suffered a gut-wrenching triple-overtime loss to Harvard in Cambridge.

0-2.

But Shaver's team has responded with four straight wins, including a huge upset in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest this past weekend.

It was the first loss for Wake in the month of November at the Joel Coliseum, which opened 20 years ago. The streak had reached 50 consecutive victories.

William & Mary became the first unranked, non-BCS team to win at The Joel.

"I was very impressed with our toughness and compsure," Shaver said. "We held our ground."

After the game, William & Mary went to the local hospital to check on their starting big man, 6-foot-10 senior Steven Hess, who was taken to the hospital due to an infection in his elbow.

Hess had received stitches a few days prior to the game and his fever shot up when the team arrived in Winston-Salem, so he was taken to the hospital – where Shaver is hopeful he'll be released sometime today.

"He came out of his room in a nightgown," Shaver said. "Then he wanted to go on the bus and see the guys, so he came out and spent 10 minutes with the guys."

Shaver said his four seniors have really been key in the team's resurgence, which began with an upset victory against Richmond on Nov. 19.

"They've been through a lot of highs and lows," said Shaver, whose team was 10-20 last season. "They are doggone determined to have a good year."

RANDOM NOTES: One of the elite big men in the Class of 2011, Rakeem Christmas, has cut his list to Florida, Georgetown, Oklahoma, Texas and Florida International. ... North Carolina coach Roy Williams won his 600th game against Nevada on Sunday night with a sling on his surgically repaired shoulder.

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