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Five feet away from where Braylon Mullins was answering the same questions over and over before a rotating mass of media members, Jayden Ross sat alone in front of his stall in the University Connecticut locker room. He hosted Mullins on his recruiting visit, so he’s seen him from the beginning of his college career. Before the beginning, actually.
“Once I got out of high school, I was out of the loop in terms of high schoolers,” said Ross, a junior. “I didn’t know much about him. Quiet guy, very humble, very level-headed dude. The impact he’s been able to have on this program and what we’ve done throughout the year means so much to us, man.”
The Huskies will play for the national championship on Monday in what practically amounts to a home game for the fresh-faced killer from Greenfield, who scored 15 points and hit yet another devastating three-pointer in their 71-62 victory over Illinois at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Just as in last weekend’s victory over Duke, when he hit the game-winning three-pointer from the edge of the midcourt logo, Mullins hit a backbreaking shot with 52 seconds left that gave Connecticut a seven-point lead. And just as in the victory over Duke, it snuffed out the memory of a poor overall shooting performance with an unforgettable highlight.
Mullins hit two three-pointers to open the game and had a game-high 12 points at halftime. But he went scoreless in the second half, missing all five of his shots, before hitting the one that mattered most.
“You always have to shoot with confidence,” said Mullins, who hit just 5-of-14 shots overall but made 4-of-7 three-pointers.
Level-headed dude, indeed.
Mullins could be forgiven for having to buy larger hats these days. He’s gone from winning Indiana’s Mr. Basketball honor last year to taking star turns on the main stages of the NCAA tournament. He’s known not only to the folks in Greenfield, but to many in Greenland. And yet he’s managed the perfect blend of confidence and humility — unafraid of the big moment but determined to fit in.
That was as apparent after Saturday’s game as during. Mullins was driven to the postgame meeting with the media on a golf cart in the bowels of Lucas Oil along with teammates Tarris Reed and Silas Demery and coach Dan Hurley. He took his turn answering questions, but when it was time for the players to be driven back to their locker room he was asked — make that told — to conduct an on-camera interview with ESPN. Reed and Demery waiting on the cart without complaint.
NCAA rules mandate that locker rooms stay open to the media for 45 minutes after tournament games. Mullins, however, had to conduct television interviews in the hallways outside the locker room, then at the front of the entrance to the locker room, and then in the back of the entrance before being allowed to walk to his locker. He answered questions along the way, then sat down in front of his stall — with about 10 minutes left in the interview session.
He never broke stride, whether walking or talking. Looked each questioner in the eye, never became irritated or impatient, and always said the right thing.
“You’ve just to have fun, man,” he said. “Just being in that moment is something you dream of as a little kid. It’s crazy.
“But that’s why I committed to UConn. This was the whole goal when I came here. We’re all collectively here to do it. The goal was to get here, and we knew we were capable of doing it. The goal now is to win it all.”
Hurley, who will try to win his third national championship in the past four seasons on Monday, found the perfect recruit in Mullins, one who not only knew how to play but also carried himself properly – one who checked all the boxes.
“It’s those initial phone calls,” Hurley said earlier in the week when describing his approach to recruiting. “It’s how they respond to text messages that you send. Are they ignorant or do they have humility when you talk to them? The family, do you have good parents, do you have parents that have real good values? Then the high school coach, the high school program. Did he play in a place that he’s been coached, he’s been corrected, he’s been told no, he’s been told that what he’s doing is not good enough.
“You come to UConn you’ve got to fit – you’ve got to be able to fit into our team. You’ve not just going to be the face of it, so you have to have a humility about you.”
That, and talent. Mullins has shown enough in his first season at Connecticut to be regarded as a potential first-round pick in the NBA draft. He entered the game averaging just 11.9 points, but that’s deceiving. Nobody in the UConn starting lineup averages more than 14.7 points and nobody averages less than 10.4. You have to fit. Mullins’ shooting percentages also were pedestrian – 43% overall and 33% from the three-point line.
But the numbers are better since he recovered from a preseason injury and entered the starting lineup in the season’s 11th game. His timely tournament shooting hasn’t hurt, either. He’s 6-foot-6, perfect size for an NBA shooting guard, solid fundamentals and obvious IQ and maturity. He is expected to enter his name in the draft and work out for teams to get feedback and then decide whether to return for a second season in Connecticut.
Saturday’s game showed his limitations. He struggles to score aside from three-point attempts, doesn’t handle the ball well enough to create shots or get to the basket and would struggle to defend NBA guards on the perimeter. But shooters — especially clutch shooters — always get passes on some of the less glamorous elements of the game, and he’s young. Reggie Miller, remember, averaged just 4.6 points as a freshman at UCLA.
Mullins likely won’t stay in college for four seasons as Miller did, but he’s already stayed long to make a strong impression. All while fitting in, of course.
“Unreal athlete, unreal shooter, unselfish guy, great dude, man,” Ross said. “He plays super hard. He was able to fit right in and do a good job. Just came in and fit in seamlessly.”
Monday brings the potential of a fitting conclusion to a dream season for Mullins. He’ll be going up against an NBA-like team in Michigan, which surprisingly dominated Arizona in the second game on Saturday, so it figures to be the toughest challenge of his career. Just don’t bet against him handling the moment.•
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Montieth, an Indianapolis native, is a longtime newspaper reporter and freelance writer. He is the author of three books: “Passion Play: Coach Gene Keady and the Purdue Boilermakers,” “Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis,” and “Extra Innings: My Life in Baseball,” with former Indianapolis Indians President Max Schumacher.
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