At 6-6 from Brooklyn, N.Y., Chris Mullin is the most honored
player in St. John's history. The consensus All-American's sharp
outside shooting from the floor, his dead-eye accuracy from the
free-throw line, his keen basketball sense, his leadership both on
and off the court and his total devotion to the game of basketball
led him to become, arguably, the greatest player in St. John's
history.
In his rookie season, he was named the MVP of both the Lapchick
Tournament and ECAC Holiday Festival. He was second team All-BIG
EAST and first team All-Rookie. Named the Metropolitan Sports
Writers Rookie of the Year, Mullin averaged 16.6 points per game
and became the school's top freshman scorer with 498 points.
There was no sophomore jinx for Mullin his second year. He led
the team with a 19.1 scoring average and became only the third St.
John's player to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons. He
swept all of the major BIG EAST awards that year as he was named
Player of the Year, MVP of the Tournament and first team
all-conference. He was also named to the third-team All-America by
UPI. He won the Haggerty Award that season, which is symbolic of
being collegiate basketball's MVP for the metropolitan area.
In his junior year, he earned a place on just about every
All-American team, averaging a team-high 22.9 points per game. He
led the BIG EAST in scoring with a 24.9 mark and was named
Co-Conference Player of the Year. He became the conference's
all-time leading scorer and was named first team all-conference.
That summer he was a key member of the gold medal winning Olympic
team.
Besides leading St. John's to the Final Four his senior year and
a No. 1 ranking by both the UPI and AP polls for several weeks,
Mullin was the recipient of the John R. Wooden Award, which is
given to the nation's top collegiate basketball player. Mullin was
a consensus first-team All-America, was named UPI's Player of the
Year and District II Player of the Year.
He surpassed Bob Zawoluk as the school's all-time leading scorer
and became the first St. John's player to total 2,000 points in a
career. Mullin was not just a scoring machine; in his four years at
St. John's he also broke the record for steals, field goals made,
free throws and free throw percentage. He also ranks among the top
five in assists.