DAYTON, Ohio _ Four years ago, give or take a week-and-a-half, Chris Mullin nearly brought down the house at Carnesecca Arena after having filled it. He starred in the most raucous coaching announcement we've ever seen and drew standing ovations with his words and his presence.
Enthusiasm for Red Storm basketball reached to the ceiling and caromed off the walls of the former Alumni Hall on April 1, 2015 as Mullin said it was "an obligation" to take the head coaching job at his alma mater and promised to have St. John's "dominate New York." What remains to be seen, especially after a quick and undistinguished exit from The Big Dance, is if he deserves a renewal on the goodwill.
Mullin steered the Storm into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure, meeting up with Arizona State in the First Four here Wednesday night. The appearance was the kind of highlight the school envisioned at that 2015 offseason pep rally. But the 74-65 loss to a team that isn't all that good will not do much to convince skeptics who are leery of the season's 9-13 finish after a 12-0 start. They wonder if his stellar playing career and his chops as an NBA executive really can turn solid players into good pros _ and attract more of them.
The next year or so will tell whether this year was just a start for Mullin, or if it was a sign that he can take the team only so far. The game Wednesday night didn't make that any clearer.
For the record, there are no regrets from Shamorie Ponds, the type of New York standout Mullin vowed to recruit when he became the university's 20th basketball coach. Ponds considered turning pro last year before deciding to return.
"It's definitely a blessing to be here. It's something I dreamed of. I'm just glad to share here with my brothers, and definitely try to go far in the tournament," the junior point guard said on Tuesday, mindful that most people believe he is in the final phase of his St. John's career. He has been projected as either a late first-rounder or second-rounder in various mock NBA drafts.
Mullin knows that preparing players for their next step is part of the job. "I can go back (to) when coach (Lou) Carnesecca recruited me. The fact that he coached in the pros was intriguing to me," he said. "I liked that. Look, a lot of these kids, that's their dream, and you want to do everything you can to fulfill that dream with the insurance plan of education and degree."
Yet that is only a part of the job. He has to inspire donors, excite season-ticket holders, cajole the media, befriend AAU coaches and handle all the Xs and Os during games. The perception is that Mullin leaves much of the latter to assistant coach Greg St. Jean.
Maybe a good leader delegates details to a strong associate. Carnesecca downplayed strategy during the 1985 season, when he had a star-studded squad led by Mullin. He once told me, "I've always said my mother could have coached that team."
The current coach's players have his back, especially after having seen how he handled the recent death of his brother.
"For him to still want to be a part of this and want to be around us during that time means a lot and shows us how much he loves us and shows how much he loves this program," Marvin Clark II said. "And to be able to help him get his school back into this position is dope."
Alumni no doubt agree. But Mullin knows that by next March, it will have been 20 years since St. John's last won a March Madness game. He will be judged on whether he can end the drought. For now, the best that can be said of his coaching legacy is that it hasn't been written yet.
