College basketball has been played at St. John’s for more than a century. Only twice has the program had a lower winning percentage than the current team, the winless year of 1918-19 when the Johnnies played just seven games, and the disastrous 2003-04 season under Mike Jarvis that was marred by the Pittsburgh strip-club scandal.
And, in a cruel twist of irony, the man running the show is none other than Chris Mullin, the greatest player in St. John’s history, the NBA Hall of Famer who led the Red Storm to a Final Four berth in 1985.
Mullin, however, isn’t shying away from the ugly season unfolding in Queens: a 7-19 record, a program-record 16 straight losses and an 0-13 mark in Big East play entering Wednesday’s contest against DePaul at Carnesecca Arena.
Asked if he’s OK with seeing his name attached to this forgettable campaign, he said: “Hell yeah. And it’s attached to one of the best teams in St. John’s history. That’s the way it should be.
“And probably the best comeback in St. John’s history.”
Asked, exactly, what comeback that will be, Mullin smiled.
“What comes after this,” he said.
All the losing hasn’t negatively impacted the Brooklyn-bred legend. He thinks this had to happen for the program to get to where he believes it belongs, when he was a player and Lou Carnesecca was on the sideline and St. John’s was a national championship contender. Of course, there really was no choice, after he replaced Steve Lavin last April, the remaining top players in the program, Rysheed Jordan and Chris Obekpa, left, and the new staff recruited nine new players, five of them freshmen.
“In the middle is the worst,” Mullin said. “In the middle is no good. When you don’t take this path, you don’t go anywhere.”
Mullin has preached consistency since Day 1 — consistency in effort, during practice and games. He brought discipline and accountability, never once making excuses for this season, despite how little he inherited. He made a point of not putting a number of wins on his expectations during the preseason, and he has been positive after losses, especially when the Johnnies have played well. The fan base has helped, rarely booing, which Mullin takes as their understanding of this massive rebuild. It has rubbed off on his players, who have remained upbeat despite the ugly record.
“Every day you see the same intensity, you still see people smiling, joking, laughing. You’re still hearing music during practice,” senior guard Ron Mvouika said. “After a losing streak like this, just seeing smiles on people’s faces, it shows the true character of this team. It shows the guys are still willing to work, they’re still ready to play hard and compete.”
One of the five freshmen, Malik Ellison, never had been through a prolonged losing streak before. It was unexpected. Yet, in hindsight, he said he believes it’s beneficial. It’s forced everyone to become even closer.
“I don’t regret anything that happened this year,” he said. “We’re all a family.”
If St. John’s finishes 7-25 by losing its final five regular-season games and Big East Tournament opener, Mvouika said he won’t have trouble sleeping. He knows this was a necessary evil, and he’s happy to have a role in it.
“Me, [fellow seniors] Durand Johnson, Felix Balamou, I like to see us as the bridge, from this year to what’s going to happen, the successful team they’re going to have next year,” he said. “We started that.”
It has been difficult, all the losing. St. John’s hasn’t won since upsetting Syracuse on Dec. 13. The Johnnies have been close, losing six of their 13 Big East games by 10 points or less, three times to No. 8 Xavier and top-ranked Villanova. But there have also been unsightly evenings — a 37-point loss to Vanderbilt, 16-point loss at Fordham, 22-point loss to Incarnate Wood and a 33-point loss to Butler at home. Yet, they continue to give all they have.
“The fact we’re competing against the best teams in the nation, and just keep coming up short, that’s the most frustrating part,” Mvouika said. “But that’s also the part that makes us work every single day, because we know we’re going to get one.”
Mullin has consulted with his mentor, Carnesecca, and Jack Alesi, his high school coach at Xaverian, and both said they have been impressed with how he has dealt with the trying season. Alesi said he isn’t surprised, though. His son, Chris, remembered a message Mullin gave him in 1995, when he was with the Warriors.
It read: “Don’t get too high after a win, and don’t get too low after a loss. There’s always another game on another day.”
“You watch him game in and game out, and you watch his demeanor on the sideline, he doesn’t look like a coach that is feeling the pressure of losing 16 games in a row,” Alesi said. “He’s even-keeled. He’s still teaching. You can see he connects with his players.”
“Any coach would bleed losing like that,” Carnesecca said, and yet the wounds haven’t been too deep.
When asked if he’s had any second thoughts about taking the job, Mullin laughed. Not a single one.
“I got third thoughts about how I’m going to pay these people back,” he said with a wry grin. “I remember almost every loss I’ve had, and it’s right here [in my head]. We’re coming.”