Don’t blame Chris Mullin for one of the worst seasons in the 109-year history of St. John’s.
In fact, one opposing Big East head coach, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mullin has done a solid job with the hand he was dealt — just three holdovers from last year’s NCAA Tournament team and a cobbled-together roster formed in a few months after he was hired in April — despite the program-record 16-game losing streak the Johnnies carry into Wednesday’s home game against DePaul.
“I don’t think it’s coaching,” the Big East coach said of the Johnnies (7-19, 0-13 Big East). “They’re running good stuff [on offense]. They’re prepared. They’re playing hard. They hang in there, but with their lack of depth, they have lineups that are difficult to win with.”
The returning players — forwards Christian Jones and Amar Alibegovic, and guard Felix Balamou — averaged a combined 4.0 points in 23.8 minutes per game last year. The two players expected to figure prominently this season — point guard Rysheed Jordan and center Chris Obekpa — left after they were unwilling to meet Mullin’s strict demands for all players. Jordan failed to stick in the NBA’s D-League while Obekpa is sitting out his transfer year at UNLV.
Mullin and his staff brought in nine new players, led by graduate transfers Ron Mvouika (Missouri State) and Durand Johnson (Pittsburgh), neither of whom played last year either because of injury or suspension. Junior college transfer Darien Williams appeared in just three games before reinjuring his surgically repaired shoulder and the crown jewel of the recruiting class — Marcus LoVett, the only true point guard on the roster — was ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
The Big East coach equated the Johnnies’ roster to that of a low Atlantic 10 team, or perhaps a high-end CAA program. An assistant coach said it resembles a top-end MAAC program.
“They definitely inherited a bad roster,” the assistant said.
Freshmen Yankuba Sima, Kassoum Yakwe, Malik Ellison and Federico Mussini all have shown flashes of promise, but periods of being overwhelmed, too. Mussini has played by far the most, appearing in every game and averaging 31.1 minutes per game, and he has tailed off considerably while playing out of position at point guard.
“I give the kid credit, but he’s shot,” the Big East coach said. “They have Johnson, they have Mvouika, and you have a bunch of kids who don’t know what they’re doing yet.”
Of their 13 Big East losses, six have come by 10 points or less. St. John’s has played some of its best basketball against the nation’s very best, losing twice to eighth-ranked Xavier by a combined 15 points and falling to No. 1 Villanova, 73-63, on the road Saturday night.
“It’s pretty astounding,” CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein said in a phone interview. “If you really dissect the roster, it’s not a surprise St. John’s has gone winless [in the Big East], but I think the thing that is a silver lining there is there is a culture in place of playing hard, there have been elements of sharing the ball that will be magnified when the talent level goes up next season.
“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: It will be interesting to see what happens when Chris Mullin gets players.”
St. John’s has the top-rated recruiting class in the Big East, according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings, so that time appears to be coming.