It appears like Chris Mullin will step down as St. John’s Red Storm head coach and clear the path for the next era of St. John’s basketball.
Right before former St. John’s Red Storm forward Tariq Owens was set to play in the National Championship game for Texas Tech, important news broke regarding the school from Queens. According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Chris Mullin is going to step down as St. John’s head coach sometime this week.
Sources: Chris Mullin is expected to step down as head coach of St. John's. Official announcement expected this week. #SJUBB
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 9, 2019
The former St. John’s great coached four years in Queens and reached the NCAA Tournament this past season. However, a 59-73 overall record and 20-58 in the Big East as head coach left the fan base looking for more results, especially after being knocked out in the First Four this year by Arizona State.
With that being said, the news comes as somewhat of a surprise after the developments from this past weekend at the Final Four. Rumors were swirling on Friday about a possible coaching change, but athletic director Mike Cragg made an emphatic statement that Mullin was still his head coach going forward.
Mike Cragg, in a statement released by St. John's: “Let me be clear and I said from the start, Coach Mullin is our head coach and we are not looking for another head coach.” #sjubb
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) April 6, 2019
It has been a rough offseason for St. John’s already and the bad news keeps piling on. In the last month, Shamorie Ponds declared for the NBA, Matt Abdelmassih, Mullin’s top recruiter, joined Fred Hoiberg’s staff at Nebraska, and Ponds’ replacement at point guard, Cam Mack, was released from his letter of intent earlier on Monday. This is according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post:
JUCO point guard Cam Mack announces he has received his release from St. John's. #sjubb
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) April 8, 2019
As St. John’s turns the page to start over again, there will be many big names that will be on the list to be the next coach. One name that is likely going to be at the top of the list, according to Rothstein, is former Duke point guard and current Arizona State Sun Devils head coach, Bobby Hurley. Cragg used to be the deputy AD at Duke before taking the St. John’s AD position in September 2018.
Sources: Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley is expected to be at the top of St. John's list to replace Chris Mullin. #SJUBB
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 9, 2019
In the end, Mullin’s tenure at St. John’s will be defined as an underachievement as a head coach, but it should not affect his legacy as one of the best players to play in Queens. With that being said, a lot of people felt that change was needed after four years. Now Cragg gets a chance to bring in his own coach to run the program going forward.
