Busting Brackets
Fansided

St. John’s Basketball: Recent impact of transfers for the Red Storm

By Nick Bello

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm yells out to his team against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm yells out to his team against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Transfers going both ways have impacted NCAA Basketball teams in a big way. How has it impacted St. John’s Basketball in particular?

Most college basketball purists would say that in order for a coach to find good players, it is imperative that they recruit talent out of high school. However for the most part this has not been the case for Chris Mullin and his staff at  St. John’s. The former player turned coach has built his teams mostly out of solid transfers and has experienced some success as a result.

In order to understand why Mullin has done this, you must first go back to when he was hired. Mullin took over in place of Steve Lavin who led the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament in 2010-2011 as well as in 2014-2015, his final season. Mullin had his work cut out for him as he was left with the ruins of Lavins legacy at St. John’s.

In his first season at St. John’s, Mullin went out and got Tariq Owens who transferred from Tennessee. Owens, who had to sit out his first year, payed off in the end as he was crucial for St. John’s this past season finishing top five in the nation in blocks. Owens also came up big in crucial games scoring 17 points in the upset win against Duke at Madison Square Garden. Owens decided however to go to Texas Tech as a graduate transfer.

Mullin was also able to get Marvin Clark II from Michigan State in 2016. Like Owens, Clark also had to sit out after coming to St. John’s. He has become an important piece of Mullin’s roster due to his presence down low. Last season Clark put up big numbers averaging 12 points a game and scoring in double digits in 24 out of the 33 games played last season.

Clark has also served as a leader for Mullin’s squad. With experience in the Final Four from Michigan State’s run in 2014-15, Clark is not afraid of the big stage. Clark dropped 15 points in the upset against Villanova, further showing that he is not afraid of the big stage.

Another transfer Mullin has gotten is Justin Simon. Simon, who transferred from Arizona, has been an offensive machine in his time at St. John’s. The 6-5 forward averaged 12 points a game last season while also averaging seven assists a game. Simon is deadly on the fastbreak and was first in the Big East in steals last season capping most of those steals off with an emphatic dunk.

This offseason, Mullin has worked his magic in the transfer market yet again bringing in Mustapha Heron from Auburn as well as JUCO standout LJ Figueroa and David Caraher. Heron, who scored over 1000 points in two years at Auburn, may be eligible to play this season pending a hardship waiver. Both him and Figueroa will be eligible to start this year alongside Sedee Keita, who transferred last year from South Carolina, and Mikey Dixon. Who transfered last year from Quinnipiac.

Next: 25 preseason candidates for 2019 Player of the Year

With these new additions, Mullin looks to have a solid team this season built off of a high number of transfers. What Mullin has done is very rare in college basketball and can be dangerous. Whether or not it all pays off in the end for Mullin is a question yet to be answered.