Mullin offers scholarship to Alkins

Good start to the Chris Mullin Era. I'm still leery of a guy who's never coached, even if it is Chris Mullin, but pitching the top high school star in NYC, and trying to plant the flag at Christ the King, is a very good start.

The coach at Christ the King has been there for 30 years, so at least he's old enough to remember the Mullin-Jackson-Berry years. So even if Alkins goes with one of the other schools who have already been recruiting him, just opening the door is progress. (Steve Lavin has never been in CtK's gym?! )

how is that possible that Lavin was never in there? That just blows my mind.

I'm with you on being leery- but if it ever would work, it would be Mullin.

Someone on The Board That Shall Not Be Named compared Mullin to Calbert Cheaney in Indiana--HS player of the year, Big Ten leading scorer, IU legend.

I'd say that doesn't make a case against Mullin at St Johns, it makes the case that Cheaney could be a very good hire at Indiana. For recruiting, in the NYC area, especially the CHSAA schools, Mullin is an absolute rock star. Everywhere else, he's still an NBA Hall-of-Famer.

The strategy here is to re-connect St Johns basketball to its glorious history, and to restore its position as the No. 1 basketball school in NYC and the Greater New York Area. That doesn't make St Johns an automatic Top Ten team, because talent isn't as concentrated in NYC, but it's a heck of a lot better than 6 NCAAT appearances in the last 20 years, and 15 years since our last NCAAT win.

OF course, if Mullin doesn't succeed, St John's basketball is in a world of hurt.

A point that I think is very valid as well is that Mullin did play with Indiana for 3 very solid years. So that'll help him in recruiting out there as well.

The key absolutely will be can New York City basketball get back to some semblance of where they were. Maybe with Mullin stoking that fire, it'll help out there a lot.

Your last point is absolutely spot on. If he can't build you guys up, who can?

(04-02-2015 10:50 PM)stever20 Wrote:  A point that I think is very valid as well is that Mullin did play with Indiana for 3 very solid years. So that'll help him in recruiting out there as well.

I really think the idea that playing a few years in a city is a big recruiting advantage. Would Glen Rice have more of an "in" with NYC kids today than, say, Eddie Jones? I'm skeptical.

There's the credibility of being an NBA All-STar. There's the credibility of being a 10-year NBA veteran (like Kevin Ollie). There's being a local-basketball rock star.

I don't think a short NBA stint in a city does much for you.

Mullin might get something out of his West Coast time as an executive. If he was scouting camps and mingling out west, that's worth something in networking.

(04-03-2015 07:34 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 10:50 PM)stever20 Wrote:  A point that I think is very valid as well is that Mullin did play with Indiana for 3 very solid years. So that'll help him in recruiting out there as well.

I really think the idea that playing a few years in a city is a big recruiting advantage. Would Glen Rice have more of an "in" with NYC kids today than, say, Eddie Jones? I'm skeptical.

There's the credibility of being an NBA All-STar. There's the credibility of being a 10-year NBA veteran (like Kevin Ollie). There's being a local-basketball rock star.

I don't think a short NBA stint in a city does much for you.

Mullin might get something out of his West Coast time as an executive. If he was scouting camps and mingling out west, that's worth something in networking.

I think the fact that he was a key cog on the only Pacers team to make the NBA Finals does nothing but help him. Have to remember that was back in the '98-'00 period, meaning the parents of these kids would be in the 20-40 yr old range- often times the peak time for fandom.

Mullin working the phones, NYPost

http://nypost.com/2015/04/04/chris-mulli...-st-johns/

Looks like Mullin just got a commitment from 6'11" center Yankuba Sima who was being recruited hard by Louisville, Maryland and Arizona. According to the reports he's a skilled shot blocker and rebounder, who is pretty raw on offense. But man, unlike some of the other tall slobs we've had (curtis johnson, god's gift, de la rosa, etc) it sounds like this kid is actually legitimately talented. I'm just shocked Mullin was able to get a kid like this. I get that he isn't highly ranked, but it sounds like he has some skill and a 6'11" guy with a decent amount of skill can be very useful to a team that absolutely cannot rebound.

BTW, i've been a johnnies fan my whole life. Never realized there were other SJU fans on this board.

Mullin has been great since taking over. I know I'm a Hoya's fan- and right now I'm most worried about St John's than I've been in about 15-20 years.

(04-15-2015 02:35 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Mullin has been great since taking over. I know I'm a Hoya's fan- and right now I'm most worried about St John's than I've been in about 15-20 years.

we'll see. I've shared that sentiment many times since the days of Marcus Hatten, but I'll believe it when I see it. They seem to doing and saying all the right things, but that's a guarantee of nothing.

(04-15-2015 10:08 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(04-15-2015 02:35 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Mullin has been great since taking over. I know I'm a Hoya's fan- and right now I'm most worried about St John's than I've been in about 15-20 years.

we'll see. I've shared that sentiment many times since the days of Marcus Hatten, but I'll believe it when I see it. They seem to doing and saying all the right things, but that's a guarantee of nothing.

absolutely no doubt. It's been years since they've been doing and saying the right things quite frankly! I think Mullin has done more positives in 1 month as St John's coach as Lavin did in all 5 years combined. Still questions obviously about game coaching etc., but it's looking extremely positive.

(04-15-2015 10:53 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-15-2015 10:08 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(04-15-2015 02:35 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Mullin has been great since taking over. I know I'm a Hoya's fan- and right now I'm most worried about St John's than I've been in about 15-20 years.

we'll see. I've shared that sentiment many times since the days of Marcus Hatten, but I'll believe it when I see it. They seem to doing and saying all the right things, but that's a guarantee of nothing.

absolutely no doubt. It's been years since they've been doing and saying the right things quite frankly! I think Mullin has done more positives in 1 month as St John's coach as Lavin did in all 5 years combined. Still questions obviously about game coaching etc., but it's looking extremely positive.

Yeah aside from Lavin's obvious inability to make connections on the NY recruiting scene, he was a god awful coach. I've never seen a team run less of what we might call an "offense." There's no doubt that NY basketball has declined as the rise of AAU around the country has usurped it, but that doesn't mean there aren't good players to be had and it doesn't mean a program can't be built in Queens. If Bo Ryan can do it, Mullin can. He probably won't, but he can

I miss the days of Erick Barkley and Bootsy Thornton. My dad and I were at the game when SJU went into Cameron and was the first non conference team to beat Duke on their home floor in many years. It was an amazing game with some big shots on both sides. That was back when we used to give Duke a real fight every year