NEW YORK — As Year 1 of the Chris Mullin Era at St. John’s came to a close Wednesday night before 12,604 fans at Madison Square Garden, Henry Ellenson provided the Johnnies with an instructive lesson for the future.
The 6-foot-11 freshman from Rice Lake, Wis., who looks like he will be the first one-and-done player from the Big East in three years, dominated St. John’s in the paint to the tune of 27 points and 14 rebounds in a 101-93 Marquette victory that brought St. John’s long and difficult season to an end.
It was Ellenson’s three-pointer with three minutes remaining that gave Marquette back the lead for good after St. John’s had gone ahead on a three-pointer from Ron Mvouika.
Ellenson, who chose Marquette over Michigan State and Kentucky, is a special player, and a reminder to Mullin and his staff that they need to significantly improve their level of talent going forward if they’re going to compete in the Big East and beyond.
“If you’re going to play against them [lottery picks], you gotta get them,” a St. John’s source told SNY.tv of Ellenson, who’s projected as the No. 8 pick by DraftExpress.com.
Before the game, to nobody’s surprise, Ellenson was named Big East Freshman of the year. It seemed somewhat appropriate that he dressed at Carmelo Anthony’s corner locker in the Knicks locker room before the game.
“My jersey’s in Melo’s locker and that gives me a big smile because he’s my favorite player,” Ellenson said.
Look, Ellenson is a unique player and St. John’s can’t expect to have someone like him land in their lap.
Unless they pull a rabbit out of the hat and land Thon Maker — who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant — in the wake of Rawle Alkins‘ decision to pick Arizona on Monday.
Ed Smith, Maker’s guardian, watched part of the St. John’s game on TV in Canada and said he’s still working on an official visit to the school. The 7-foot Maker is coming off an official visit to Kansas last weekend and told me he plans to take several other officials before deciding next week.
As Mullin and his staff head into Year 2, this much is certain: They got a mulligan in Year 1 because they had to overhaul virtually their entire roster. Now they need to show significant signs of improvement in Year 2 and beyond.
The honeymoon is still ongoing, but before long Chris Mullin the NBA player and recruiting draw will become Chris Mullin the coach.
“We have some talented players coming in,” Mullin, whose team finished 8-24 in his first season on the bench, told SNY’s Michelle Yu after the game.
“The future is bright,” he said on the podium.
The Johnnies will lose senior Felix Balamou and graduate students Mvouika and Durand Johnson. It was Mvouika who briefly gave St. John’s fans hope with his three-pointer that put the Red Storm up 89-88.
“I was just happy to make that shot but they ended up scoring right away so that was about it,” Mvouika said.
It’s possible they could also lose junior Christian Jones, who went off for a season-high 29 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.
“We just need to find a way to get over that hump and break through,” Jones said. “We didn’t today but it was much improvement form the younger guys.”
Ah, yes the younger guys.
St. John’s will lose what leadership they have in Balamou, Mvouika and Johnson, but return a young nucleus including Federico Mussini, Malik Ellison, Yankuba Sima and Kassoum Yakwe.
They add point guard Marcus LoVett and 6-10 Tennessee transfer Tariq Owens, along with incoming recruits Shamorie Ponds, Richard Freudenberg and Bashir Ahmed.
Mullin has time to get this thing turned around. He’s still in his honeymoon and has two ace recruiters in Matt Abdelmassih and Barry “Slice Rohrssen, who assembled both last year’s and this year’s recruiting classes.
But on this night, Henry Ellenson and his teammates showed St. John’s what it takes to win in the Big East.
Now Mullin and company have to turn the corner and boldly move forward.
