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St. John’s Basketball: 5 keys to a successful 2018-19 campaign

By Lukas Harkins

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Bryan Trimble Jr. #12 of the St. John's Red Storm high fives Shamorie Ponds #2 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: Bryan Trimble Jr. #12 of the St. John's Red Storm high fives Shamorie Ponds #2 against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm looks on. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm looks on. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Chris Mullin takes the next step as a coach

Regardless of whether or not Mustapha Heron receives his waiver, St. John’s will have one of the better rosters in the conference. Quite simply, just about every other team in the Big East lost their best player from last season while the Red Storm bring back not only their star but two of their next three best players as well. Considering this, St. John’s possesses plenty of potential to compete for the Big East title this season in a down season for the conference.

However, many (including myself) are not projecting the Red Storm to even finish in the top half of the league and this is due to the lack of success experienced by the program under head coach Chris Mullin. Now entering his fourth year at the helm of the Johnnies, it seems apparent that his coaching seat is among the hottest in the nation. If an NCAA Tournament appearance does not occur this year, then the program might start to look in a different direction sooner rather than later. For reference, here is how the program has performed under Coach Mullin (three seasons):

  • NCAAT appearances: 0
  • Total Record: 38-60 (.388)
  • Big East Record: 12-42 (.222)
  • 2015-16: 10th in preseason, finished 10th
  • 2016-17: 8th in preseason, finished 8th
  • 2017-18: 6th in preseason, finished 9th

While these numbers do not show the team under-performing all that much, the program has not improved either. This is clearly Coach Mullin’s most talented team on paper to this point and he might need to make the most of it. Making a rapid rise up the Big East rankings and competing for an NCAA Tournament bid this season would be huge for his overall coaching prestige.