Sacramento Kings Adviser Chris Mullin Confirmed As New Coach At St. John's
NEW YORK (AP) - Chris Mullin is coming home to St. John's.
The Red Storm confirmed Tuesday that their career scoring leader and the player who led them to the 1985 Final Four is returning as coach. He'll be introduced Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena.
"This is a role I have been preparing for all of my life," Mullin said in a statement. "There are so many people who have had a great influence on me to reach this point, especially my parents, Coach (Lou) Carnesecca and my former teammates."
He succeeds Steve Lavin, who agreed to leave last week. Lavin took the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament twice in five seasons.
"As we embark on this next chapter of our storied history, it is with great pride and excitement one of our most revered student-athletes returns to take the reins of a program he once vaulted into the national spotlight," said St. John's athletic director Chris Monasch.
Iowa State assistant Matt Abdelmassih will join Mullin as an assistant coach.
Mullin spent the last two seasons working for the Sacramento Kings as a senior adviser. He previously served five years as the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors.
St. John's all-time scoring leader with 2,440 career points, Mullin played from 1981-85 under Hall of Fame coach Carnesecca. He led St. John's to four-straight NCAA Tournaments.
Mullin has not coached at any level, but said he wants to help players "reach their goals, similar to the impact coach Carnesecca had on me 30 years ago."
A New York native, Mullin was a five-time All-Star with Golden State, a member of the USA's gold-medal winning "Dream Team" in 1992 and inducted into the 2011 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
