MULLIN’S HEARTACHE
CHRIS’ EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER SINCE BROTHER’S DEATH
DAYTON, Ohio — It was the lowest of lows and the highest of highs — an eight-day gamut of emotions.
It began with Chris Mullin losing his brother, Roddy, his hero and the reason he chose basketball as his sport of choice over swimming, and ended with his alma mater and the team he now coaches making the NCAA Tournament as the 68th and last team selected. He had to juggle both, coaching his team through the Big East Tournament while mourning his 58-year-old brother, who succumbed to cancer after a four-year fight.
“Just a roller coaster of emotions,” Mullin told The Post on Tuesday, in his first public remarks about the passing of Roddy, as he prepared the Johnnies to face fellow No. 11 seed Arizona State in the First Four at Dayton Arena Wednesday night. “A lot of emotions — mixed emotions — but experiences everyone goes through.
“It was [expected], but nevertheless tough.”
The last weeks before Roddy’s passing, Mullin visited him almost every night at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Hours after Roddy died on March 9, Mullin coached St. John’s at Xavier. The day before the Johnnies beat DePaul to open the conference tournament, he buried Roddy. His brother wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“I said, ‘Do you want me to go?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ ” Mullin recalled of their final night together before the Xavier game. “I said, ‘Well, maybe you’ll stick around for the game, or not?’ because he was at that point. He goes, ‘Maybe, maybe not.’ ”
As a kid, Mullin and Roddy were swimmers. When it came time to pick a sport, Roddy chose basketball. So Chris did, too. He followed Roddy, who would play for Siena, to Power Memorial High School and the Riverside Hawks AAU program. Roddy blazed the path Mullin would follow and later surpass as a Hall of Fame player.
“He was my first guy I looked up to in sports,” Mullin said. “He was the guy we all wanted to emulate.”
Roddy passed his toughness onto his younger brother. As St. John’s limped to the finish line this season, losing three in a row, Mullin never once allowed his own personal sadness to be an excuse. He never brought it up, refused to let his players sees it having an adverse effect on him. His players knew the situation, were very aware of what Roddy meant to their coach. They wanted to attend the wake. He wouldn’t have it.
“Chris didn’t want it to be a distraction for the team or the coaching staff,” his wife, Liz, said. “They would constantly text me, offer what they can do. Chris said just take care of the team. That’s all he cared about.”
The way he has dealt with loss has rubbed off on his players. Senior Marvin Clark II shook his head at how his coach has been seemingly unfazed, that he put aside his own grief to be there for them.
“He loves us, he loves this group, he loves basketball, and he loves everything about St. John’s,” Clark said. “For him to be able to cast [everything] aside and just want to be with his guys shows how tough of a person mentally he is.”
The day after the funeral, St. John’s beat DePaul comfortably, but the next night the Red Storm were overwhelmed by Marquette. Their spot in the tournament was in question. The night of the selection show, they had a viewing party. As the f inal region was being announced, and St. John’s had still not been selected, Liz could feel despair filling up the room.
But then St. John’s name flashed across the screen and the place erupted. Players celebrated. Mullin and new athletic director Mike Cragg embraced. Mullin’s daughter, Keira, jumped as high in the air as Liz could ever remember.
“There was like an explosion,” Liz said. “It was complete joy, and I think that helped him, to see his players be so happy and the staff be so happy. I think it brought hope, and that’s what we all hang onto, hope.”
Mullin added: “That was a new experience for me at 55.”
It’s been a long road to get to this point for Mullin and St. John’s. The Johnnies suffered through losing seasons in each of his f i rst three years in Queens. There was hope this would be a breakthrough campaign, possibly even contend for a Big East crown. That didn’t happen, but Mullin has the Red Storm in the tournament for the first time in his tenure at his old school, hoping to win their first NCAA Tournament game in 19 years Wednesday night.
“He always says it’s about the players, but it’s a special moment for him,” said assistant coach Mitch Richmond, Mullin’s close friend and former Warriors teammate.
It , of course, is bittersweet, that Roddy is no longer around. He sat behind the bench at home games, and frequently attended practice. The last game he attended was a lopsided loss at the Garden to Providence on Feb. 9. Afterward, Mullin joked to his wife: “Man, these games are killing me, but they’re keeping Roddy alive.”
But for only so long. Roddy passed away. Mullin buried his beloved brother. And now he’s getting ready to coach in the NCAA Tournament for the f irst time, at the school where he made a name for himself as a player.
“I would say it’s the perfect balance,” Clark said, “of as low as you can be and as high as you can be.”
“He was my first guy I looked up to in sports. He was the guy we all wanted to emulate.” - Chris Mullin, on his brother Roddy