Get to know Mullins — Indiana’s hottest hoops recruit
GREENFIELD — The before times and after times of Braylon Mullins’ recruitment came when he received a couple of phone calls from numbers he did not recognize.
“I took my phone number out of my (social media) profile,” Mullins said.
And there you go. In 2023, this move might truly signify when a high school basketball prospect has truly transcended to star status. And in Indiana, especially. Mullins, a 6-5 junior at Greenfield-Central has quickly become one of the most sought-after prospects in what is shaping up to be an interesting recruiting battle that involves the state’s heavy hitters.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson offered Mullins three weeks ago. A week later, he visited the Notre Dame campus. Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry had already offered Mullins a scholarship six weeks earlier. Butler officially got involved last week, offering Mullins following a visit. And while Purdue coach Matt Painter has not officially offered yet, he did come through Greenfield in September and Mullins has a visit scheduled for Oct. 14.
So yeah, probably best to hide that phone number.
“I just told him the closer he gets to committing the more people will get his ear I’m sure,” said his father, Josh Mullins. “I’m sure the top five kids in the state are going to get hounded at games, whether it’s a kid who doesn’t like him or they want pictures because they think he’s going to IU or Notre Dame. I said to get ready because it could get worse. That’s part of the process, I guess.”
And if Mullins is being honest, he could do without the attention. “I mean, I’m grateful for it,” he said, but Mullins’ personality is to let his play to the talking. And it says plenty.
“When he gets on the court,” said his mother, Katie Mullins, “he’s a totally different person. That’s where he’s most comfortable. He might be frustrated here and there, but he knows what to do when gets out there. I don’t think the attention there will bother him.”
Katie Mullins said she saw the biggest jump in her oldest son’s play come between January and March of his junior season. Mullins averaged 16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.3 assists per game as a sophomore for Greenfield-Central, which went 21-1 in the regular season, but lost its sectional opener to a 20-win Anderson team.
As a freshman and probably for the majority of his sophomore year, Mullins had reputation as an outside shooter. Not a bad reputation to have. But not really accurate, either. Not that he can’t shoot it. When Painter visited recently, Mullins shot 500 3-pointers on the shooting gun and made 90%.
“It used to be like that,” Mullins said. “It was like ‘We can put that kid in the corner and let him shoot.’ I haven’t heard that in a while, though.”
Mullins was a 47% 3-point shooter as a sophomore (54-for-116), establishing himself as one of the best outside shooters in the state. But it was his athleticism that surprised some college coaches in the spring. Mullins had only one offer, from IUPUI, going into the spring. Indiana State, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Southern Indiana, Toledo, Tulane and Valparaiso offered from April through June.
“I showed a defensive side,” Mullins said. “I took that from high school to AAU, where some teams don’t guard people. A gained a little bit of weight, played defense at a really high level and developed a little bit more with finishing on offense. Those were things coaches talked to me about. I guess they believe in me.”
That was just the start. During and after his play in July, an avalanche of offers followed. Ball State. Iowa, Virginia Tech. Notre Dame. Cincinnati. Indiana. Butler.
“I definitely felt like they were going to happen,” he said. “I just didn’t know it was going to be that soon. Notre Dame and Shrewsberry had been following my path for a while. I felt like that one was going to come. IU came a little sooner than I expected. But I’m just grateful.”
Josh Mullins, sitting in the same coaches’ office as he did 25 years earlier, can relate to his son. Sort of.
Getting cussed out by Bob Knight
Josh Mullins, now an assistant on Meredith’s staff, was a bit of a late bloomer, but as a junior at GreenfieldCentral in 1997-98, he blossomed into a standout for coach John Hamilton. Mullins, John Hamilton Jr., and Rhett Reed led the Cougars to a Class 3A sectional championship in Shelbyville with tight victories over Pendleton Heights, Mt. Vernon and Rushville.
Greenfield-Central lost to Cathedral in the regional the following week. Cathedral went on to win the 3A state title. Greenfield-Central has never won a sectional since.
The following year, in 1998-99, Hamilton averaged 27 points per game and Mullins averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds. But that 15-6 season ended with a first-round sectional loss to Mt. Vernon when Marauders’ guard Jeremy Riddle torched the Cougars for 28 points.
“He’s further along than I was,” Josh Mullins said of Braylon when asked to compare their on-court styles. “I was athletic, always trying to get to the bucket. He’s more skilled than I was at his age. I got better sophomore and junior year in college as a shooter.”
Josh Mullins’ options were also limited due to academics. That earned him a stern talking to by a certain coach in Bloomington.
“I got cussed out on this phone in here by Bob Knight,” Mullins said, nodding to the phone on the desk of current Greenfield-Central coach Luke Meredith. “Because my grades were bad, and I wouldn’t go to a Maine prep school for him.”
Instead, Mullins enrolled at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill., a junior college where he could work on his grades and his game. His high school sweetheart, Katie Miller (now Mullins), joined him at Lincoln Trail. Coming out of junior college, Mullins considered two options: a scholarship offer at IUPUI or walking on at UNLV with the promise of an opportunity to earn a scholarship from then-coach Charlie Spoonhour, who had coached in the JUCO ranks.
“I said, ‘I’ll get in trouble if I go to UNLV,’” Mullins said. “My priorities were all jacked up. I loved basketball, but I thought I could take whatever path I wanted to. There was another path I needed to be on. I didn’t figure that out until later. Coach (Ron) Hunter and coach (Todd) Howard helped me figure out where I needed to be. It all worked out.”
Mullins went on to play for Hunter and Howard at IUPUI, starting for two years. He averaged 12.2 points as a senior on the 2002-03 team that became the first in school history to reach the NCAA tournament.
“Josh in high school was not a shooter,” Katie Mullins said. “He was a great defensive player, and he could throw down dunks. That’s how he played in high school. His first year in college he wasn’t really a shooter, but his sophomore year and at IUPUI he became a good shooter. Braylon always had that in him, too, that athleticism and aggressiveness. He always played that way, he’s just taller and more athletic now.”
Those qualities have led to big goals for Braylon Mullins.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.