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Chris Mullin Picked To Lead St. John’s: Is It a Stunt Hire?

By Hashim R. Hathaway

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Later today, former NBA star and St. John’s University Alum Chris Mullin will be announced as the 19th head coach of the Red Storm. But with no head coaching experience, is this merely a stunt hire for a program in decline?

His hair is more sparse these days, but what remains is still shaped in the old familiar crew cut. Everything about the 51-year-old Mullin harkens back to the glory days when he dominated as a swingman for the Golden State Warriors.

But before his days in San Francisco, the 6-6 sharpshooter was a Brooklyn kid recruited by hall of fame head coach Lou Carnesecca to be the hero of the St. John’s Redmen (as they were once known).

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It seems that St. John’s wants to capture some of that old glory of days long past as they prepare to announce Mullin as the new head coach of the Red Storm, replacing the departing Steve Lavin.

While at St. John’s, Mullin set records that have yet to be topped, including 2,440 career points and only one of three to win the Haggerty Award (given to the best college player in the New York City area) three years in a row from 1983–1985.

Since Mullin’s glory days playing in Alumni Hall (now known as Carnesecca Arena), St. John’s has been a program in decline. After Carnesecca retired in 1992, the Red Storm have only seven appearances in the NCAA Tournament, making it past the second round only once, in 1999 under head coach Mike Jarvis.

There have been five full-time head coaches since the Carnesecca era; the most recent, Lavin, agreed to part ways with the university last week, in a decision that surprised many, because just prior to the announcement, sources reported that Lavin and the university were working on a contract extension.

In five years with the Red Storm, Lavin amassed a record of 92-72, including two NCAA Tournament appearances. He did this while also battling cancer and raising expectations of a program that seemed dead during the dismal Norm Roberts era of 2004-2010. To replace Lavin with a coaching neophyte in Mullin seems suspicious for a program that was just starting to find its way back.

Depending on who you ask, one of the biggest reasons for the St. John’s decline and modest resurrection in recent years has been recruiting. While most of the country thinks of Indiana as a bastion of basketball talent, for decades, New York City has boasted an oasis of its own. When Carnesecca was head coach, he often tapped that well and received gems like Mullin, Mark Jackson and the late Malik Sealy.

By the time Lavin was coach, he never had more than five native New Yorkers on his roster, and none of them were exactly blue chip talent. The kids who grew up in Rucker Park were now going to Syracuse and elsewhere. In fact, an article over the weekend in the New York Post reports that Lavin barely showed up to recruit at many of the New York powerhouse schools and academies.

Does the hiring of Mullin, an alum with zero head coaching experience, signify an attempt from St. John’s to reconnect with New York City schools in order to bring back the talent they’ve lost? To be sure, there’s a certain instant cache his name brings to the table that could help with recruiting, but once the recruiting is done, will Mullin have the ability to motivate the kids and properly teach them to win?

Certainly, time will tell, but one has to ask if stunt hiring like this can lead to long-term success for the Red Storm. More importantly, how long will being “a kid from the neighborhood” be enough for Mullin to last if winning doesn’t happen immediately at a program that was just starting to find its way again?

For a guy from way back who had the golden touch, Mullin’s latest task will require every ounce of skill he showed when he walked the floor of Carnesecca Arena 30 years ago.

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