Chris Mullin new head coach of St. John's!

[NJRedman]

If Mullin brings in the assistants that people are saying he will (things already starting to happen with the hire of the Iowa State guy) I just don't see Mullin failing at SJU. In fact, I think he can make them pretty damn scary. IN FACT, if Sampson commits again, Diallo commits, Obepka and Jordan stick around, and he brings in another late 2015 recruit, he could have them being pretty damn scary sooner than later.

If I am St. John's fan, I am feeling pretty good right about now.

DePaul on the other hand, WTF?!?!?!?!

Obekpa and Diallo together turns a weakness into a strength. Wow.

Then throw in possibly Ed Pinkney in to coach them up? Uh oh

[hoyahooligan]

I'm very positive on this hire. Much more so than I was on Lavin's hiring which I didn't like from the beginning. I think Mullin will make St.John's respectable again. I'm glad the St. John's fans seem slightly more reserved this time. When Lavin was hired and brought in that first big recruiting class St. John's fans all declared themselves back and that they were going to be the top of the league from then on out. It will be a building process under Mullin, but I think he can have St. John's a consistent tournament team that competes for the Big East title. Hope no one gets carried away and proclaims it as inevitable like last time though.

[HoosierPal]

. . . the new SJU coach. He will have an easy in, inside the NY territory, but outside he won't be known nearly as well.

I can't believe you actually typed that. It's equivalent to saying that people outside of Indiana don't know who Larry Bird is.

Mullin made his fame as a college player in NYC. But that was 4 years. He made his fame as an NBA player in San Francisco, playing there for about 3 times as long as he did in NY. Then he finished his NBA career with several years in Indianapolis.

How is his fame restricted to NY? He is known coast to coast.

I can't believe you typed "I can't believe you actually typed that". You have a jaded view of the rest of the country from the NE. As I said about 5 pages earlier, I know Mullin from his time with the Pacers. But how many Mullin Pacer jersey's have I seen in the last decade? None. If you think he is well known outside NE, good for you. It's just not the case. And why did you bring Larry Bird into this thread? He is one of the Top 50 NBA Players of All Time. Of course he would be better known globally than Chris Mullin.

[HoosierPal]

Here is a parallel situation. Calbert Cheaney is a Hoosier Legend. He starred in HS at Evansville, went to IU, still holds the Big Ten scoring record, won all 12 national college player of the year awards in 1993, and had a solid NBA 11 year career. He is now the head recruiter at St. Louis University. He is well known in the Midwest particularly in Indiana, and parents, coaches, etc. respond to him. If he goes to NYC, how many HS recruits and even HS coaches would recognize him? Same situation with the new SJU coach. He will have an easy in, inside the NY territory, but outside he won't be known nearly as well.

How is it the same situation? Mullin is a hall of famer, NBA All star and was selected to be on the greatest Basketball team ever assembled. Cheaney isn't even close to the same as Mullin. Mullin's name definitely carries more weight in the basketball world. Guy was a superstar. Hell he was in NBA Jam!!![/quote]

Thank you for agreeing with me. Calbert Cheaney is highly recognizable in Indy, much more than Mullin would be. But no one in NYC would recognize Cheaney or care about him. Similar situation with Chris Mullin, recognizable in his territory but not as much elsewhere. I wish the ex-Pacer well, but for some reason SJU fans think recruits around the country will be salivating for the chance to play at St. Johns simply because Chris Mullin is the coach.

[BEwannabe]

I have no idea if CM will be successful at SJU. I tend to believe he will be successful but the points several have made are valid. Face it, he's old and never has done this and it's not an easy job. That said, what I know of Chris Mullin is he's been successful in basketball and the X's and O's of the game are not that difficult. Player and game management are more difficult. As to how well known Chris is, I'm a contemporary and an avid basketball fan and knew he was a star at SJU and had all star season in the NBA but my recollection of where he played in the NBA is non existent, so comparisons to Larry Bird are off base and I'll bet if I ask my high school kids (they follow sports across the world religiously knowing NBA stars and Premier League stars equally) tonight who Chris Mullin is they would not have the first clue.

[NJRedman]

Here is a parallel situation. Calbert Cheaney is a Hoosier Legend. He starred in HS at Evansville, went to IU, still holds the Big Ten scoring record, won all 12 national college player of the year awards in 1993, and had a solid NBA 11 year career. He is now the head recruiter at St. Louis University. He is well known in the Midwest particularly in Indiana, and parents, coaches, etc. respond to him. If he goes to NYC, how many HS recruits and even HS coaches would recognize him? Same situation with the new SJU coach. He will have an easy in, inside the NY territory, but outside he won't be known nearly as well.

How is it the same situation? Mullin is a hall of famer, NBA All star and was selected to be on the greatest Basketball team ever assembled. Cheaney isn't even close to the same as Mullin. Mullin's name definitely carries more weight in the basketball world. Guy was a superstar. Hell he was in NBA Jam!!!

Thank you for agreeing with me. Calbert Cheaney is highly recognizable in Indy, much more than Mullin would be. But no one in NYC would recognize Cheaney or care about him. Similar situation with Chris Mullin, recognizable in his territory but not as much elsewhere. I wish the ex-Pacer well, but for some reason SJU fans think recruits around the country will be salivating for the chance to play at St. Johns simply because Chris Mullin is the coach.[/quote]

Well you are comparing a guy who in his best year in the NBA averaged 16 points a game and was never an all star with a hall of famer, top 100 player in NBA history and a member of the dream team? You think those two are comparable? Yes, Bird is top 50 all time greats Mullin is top 100. So most people who actually know basketball will know who chris mullin is. He isn';t some bench player from the NBA he is an all time great. If kids don't know who he is there coaches will.

Where did this idea come from that kids don't know anyone who played prior to kobe? Yeah, they are young but when I was young I knew who players were in all sports before my time. I had heard of guys like Jim Brown, Terry Bradshaw (before he was all over TV), Sandy Kofax, Dr. J, Kareem Abdul Jabar and Carl Yastremsky (SP?). Kids aren't stupid and they know how to use google if they don;t know much about him.

[Bill Marsh]

. . . the new SJU coach. He will have an easy in, inside the NY territory, but outside he won't be known nearly as well.

I can't believe you actually typed that. It's equivalent to saying that people outside of Indiana don't know who Larry Bird is.

Mullin made his fame as a college player in NYC. But that was 4 years. He made his fame as an NBA player in San Francisco, playing there for about 3 times as long as he did in NY. Then he finished his NBA career with several years in Indianapolis.

How is his fame restricted to NY? He is known coast to coast.

I can't believe you typed "I can't believe you actually typed that". You have a jaded view of the rest of the country from the NE. As I said about 5 pages earlier, I know Mullin from his time with the Pacers. But how many Mullin Pacer jersey's have I seen in the last decade? None. If you think he is well known outside NE, good for you. It's just not the case. And why did you bring Larry Bird into this thread? He is one of the Top 50 NBA Players of All Time. Of course he would be better known globally than Chris Mullin.

I brought Larry Bird into this thread because Bird grew up in Indiana and played his college career at Indiana State. So, of one were to claim that he was not well known outside Indiana would be to totally ignore his 12 year Hall of Fame career in Boston.

The situation with Mullin is parallel. Despite the fact that he grew up and played college ball in NY, he had a 12 year Hall of Fame career on the other side of the country where he was so highly thought of that they hired him as GM for a decades after his retirement. Not only that, but he was so highly thought of that after his 3 year stint with the Pacers, they brought him back to San Francisco so he could retire a Warrior. Not only did he play for the ?Warriors, but he lived in the Bay Area and raised his family there. He was in the news there as a player and team executive for a quarter century. Do you really think that he's not well known in California?

I'm the one who has a jaded view of the rest of the country? I'm not surprised that he doesn't sell T-shirts in Indiana, but the West Coast is where he made an impact during his pro career. You apparently think that if he no longer has a reputation in the Mid West, then he doesn't have a reputation anywhere. Frankly, he should have a bigger reputation out West than in The Northeast because he played longer there and he played more recently there, not to mention his heightened profile there as a result of his executive position beyond his playing days.

[NJRedman]

I have no idea if CM will be successful at SJU. I tend to believe he will be successful but the points several have made are valid. Face it, he's old and never has done this and it's not an easy job. That said, what I know of Chris Mullin is he's been successful in basketball and the X's and O's of the game are not that difficult. Player and game management are more difficult. As to how well known Chris is, I'm a contemporary and an avid basketball fan and knew he was a star at SJU and had all star season in the NBA but my recollection of where he played in the NBA is non existent, so comparisons to Larry Bird are off base and I'll bet if I ask my high school kids (they follow sports across the world religiously knowing NBA stars and Premier League stars equally) tonight who Chris Mullin is they would not have the first clue.

Management? He's been working in the front offices of two NBA franchises for a decade. I'm not a huge NBA fan and I went to SJU right as he was retiring and wasn't a fan of them prior to my enrollment and knew he was on the Warriors in the 90's, on the Dream Team and on the Pacers with Reggie.

[BEwannabe]

Player management as a college head coach has little in common with front office work in the NBA, he'll be dealing with 16-22 years olds and their parents not world class basketball players, the coaching staff and their agents. My point has nothing to do with him being able to identify talent it's just at a completely different level and I'm a lean toward he'll be successful but you folks that think all opposite opinion is not valid need to lighten up, some people have made some legitimate observations about Chris Mullin and SJU.

[mpwalsh8]

[ ... snipped ... ]

Then throw in possibly Ed Pinkney in to coach them up? Uh oh

EZ-Ed can't end up at SJU can he? I would think that would make him break out in hives.