St. John’s men’s basketball coach Steve Lavin is  to have surgery on Oct. 6 to treat his prostate cancer, the team revealed in a press release.

The surgery will take place at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the team said. According to Peter T. Scardino, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Surgery, the surgery is “highly likely” to completely cure Lavin.

Lavin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in Fall 2010, and revealed that he had it in April. He told reporters at the Dribble for the Cure fundraiser for pediatric cancer research on Sept. 24 that the “active surveillance” course of action that he and his doctors had been pursuing was no longer an option and that he must undergo either radiation or surgery.

“The advantage of early detection is that we were afforded the time to research all options,” said Lavin. “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.”

He will rejoin the team after a recovery period. It is not known when he will be back, but Scardino thinks Lavin will make a “smooth, quick and full recovery from his relatively low-grade cancer.”

St. John’s begins practice on Oct. 14, and their first exhibition game is on Oct. 25 against C.W. Post.