• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

March 31, 2015  Queens, NY  He is probably the last hope.  He will galvanize the “Old Faithfuls” who still reminisce about St. John’s basketball circa 1980s.  Those were the days.  Bill Wennington, Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Malik Sealy, et al.  But especially, the most successful, the hall-of-famer, Chris Mullin.  Three-time Big East Player of the Year.  Mullin never coached, but he received the blessing of Little Louie (venerable coaching icon Lou Carnasecca), colorful sweater and all.

Here are some of the particulars.  St. John’s basketball emerged as a powerhouse program in the early 1980s.  The university was able to attract local talent.  But the team lost so much of its luster after the retirement of Carnasecca in 1992,  Carnesecca was succeeded by Brian Mahoney who posted a record of 56-58 from 1992-1996.  Fran Fraschilla revived the winning tradition from 1996-2998 going 57-36.  He was followed by the enthusiastic hiring of Mike Jarvis.  Jarvis amassed a record of 66-60 from 1998-2003.  The lowest point in the program came under Kevin Clark  who went 2-17 during the 2003-2004 campaign.  Norm Roberts became the second African American coach in the program’s storied history, but the results during his tenure were completely underwhelming as St. John’s went 81-101 from 2004-2010.  Enter Steve Lavin with the West Coast swagger.  The Storm were a respectable 92-72 and made the NCAA Tournament this past season; however, it seems St. John’s and Lavin agreed to part ways.

The Chris Mullin chorus became noticeably audible immediately after Lavin departed.  There was also a “secondary” chorus championing Mark Jackson.  Jackson was probably the better choice for a few reasons.  One, he has coaching experience.  Two, he is more familiar to young b-ballers due to his broadcasting stint on ESPN and being the coach of one of the more spectacular teams in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors.  And, three, Jackson has a slightly stronger pipeline to the NBA which is particularly attractive to top recruits who are looking to play for one or two years at the collegiate level.  But don’t get it twisted, Mullin has more than a few positives.  He has worked as an NBA executive for many years.  He has a pipeline to the talent-laden West Coast.  And, he is nothing short of brilliant in terms of his basketball acumen.  Add to those strengths that Mullin will energize the St. John’s base of supporters in terms of attendance and dollar$, and it’s easy to see why the St. John’s Faithful are going “Goo-Goo, Ga-Ga” over his hiring.

The downside of the hire for Mullin is the unrealistically high expectations.  St. John’s is at least three years away from returning to the glory days.  Can the “Faithful” wait that long?  I think not.  Exhibit A, Phil Jackson whose honeymoon is over.  If the Knicks don’t make significant strides next season, the championship-starved fan base will turn on him in a nano second.  Mullin will get two years.  By the 2017-2018 season, he will be expected to have a team that can reach the “Sweet Sixteen” minimally, and optimistically, the “Elite Eight.”

The upside is that if Mullin can turn the program around, he is in line for a lucrative coaching position at a big-time college program, or better yet, the NBA.  Think Brooklyn Nets.  Or, New York Knicks.  While this is a risky proposition, Mullin’s chances of being successful are better than 50-50.  Mullin mulled over the pros and cons, liked what he saw, and has come to restore greatness to St. John’s.  His success will not only benefit St. John’s basketball; it will benefit New York basketball as a whole.  It’s not as celebrated a homecoming as Lebron James’–but New York will take it.  Glady.

Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at cliffb@puresportsny.com

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

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