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St. John’s Basketball: 5 Coaching replacements for Chris Mullin

By Joey Loose

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm reacts against the Long Island Blackbirds in the second half of the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at Barclays Center on December 11, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm reacts against the Long Island Blackbirds in the second half of the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at Barclays Center on December 11, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 24: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils questions a foul call in the first half of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on January 24, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 24: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils questions a foul call in the first half of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on January 24, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

2. Bobby Hurley (Arizona State)

If the two Duke associate head coaches were solid hires, then Bobby Hurley would be bringing a gold mine to St. John’s. He’s spent the last four seasons as head coach of the Sun Devils after two years leading Buffalo. He played and starred at Duke, winning a pair of titles in the 90’s. He played five years in the NBA and has spent the last decade in college coaching.

After his time with the Kings and Vancouver Grizzlies, Hurley joined his brother Dan as an assistant at Wagner in 2010, following him to Rhode Island two seasons later. He took over at Buffalo in 2013 and immediately turned the Bulls into MAC contenders, leading them to the NCAA Tournament in 2015. He left the program in great hands with Nate Oats before heading to Arizona State. He’s 115-78 in his six-year coaching career, and has been in the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons with the Sun Devils.

Hurley never worked under Krzyzewski, but his Duke connection makes him a likely name near the top of Cragg’s list. He has done a solid job of recruiting at Arizona State, a team that’s not exactly a revered basketball power. Taking a job back on the East Coast puts Hurley back in his recruiting footprint. He’s a great offensive coach and he’d be a great fit with the Red Storm.

Hiring Hurley would give St. John’s someone with head coaching experience that Cragg knows very well. Hurley is a New Jersey native and returning home to resurrect the Red Storm program would be the perfect storyline. The biggest issue to making this marriage happen is likely the money; as Hurley’s contract at Arizona State is lucrative. Time will tell if Hurley’s the man for the job; it would be intriguing to have both Hurley brothers fighting for recruits in the northeast.