DAYTON, Ohio — Some might consider Chris Mullin to be in a weird spot. After all, his best player, Shamorie Ponds, still has a year of eligibility left. And Mullin, who led St. John’s to its first NCAA berth since 2015, could certainly benefit by building one more year around his star point guard.
But Mullin is also a veteran of the NBA, as a player and an executive. That, in truth, is far more a selling point for recruits than the time he logged on Utopia Parkway as the school’s best player. He also happens to be fond of Ponds, and if leaving a year of eligibility on the table makes the most sense for Ponds’ pro career, he’s on board with that, too.
“To me, that’s a simple one,” Mullin said late Wednesday night, after the Johnnies’ season ended with a 74-65 loss to Arizona State in the First Four. “I sat on the other end of that as a GM and talked to college coaches. It’s really where he stacks up with the NBA. It’s got nothing to do with me.
“The good thing is, I know all the GMs and most all the owners. I just want him to get all the direct, legit information for him to make a smart decision. But as far as [me], like I said, when a kid’s ready, I’m all in. He needs to go, if it’s going to be the right decision for him.”
Here’s the thing, though.
The information Mullin gleans is almost certain to point to a harsh truth: Ponds is, at best, a late first-rounder. More likely, he will be taken in the middle of the second round. Now, worst case, Ponds will still be able to make a fine living at basketball for a good, long while, even if he doesn’t stick in the NBA right away.
Still, it is hard to imagine that Ponds wouldn’t benefit from an extra year of college. In just about every way imaginable.
“You never know, you could get a team that falls in love with him, that happens,” one NBA scout who has seen Ponds play “eight or nine times” in person said Thursday. “But to me he’s a second-round guy. Get a two-way, play in the G-League, hope you hit with the right team after that. If I was advising the kid, I’d say he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by waiting.”
Earlier in the month, Ponds’ father, Shawn, told The Post’s Zach Braziller, “It’ll be a definite decision after the season is over,” meaning Ponds will not do as he did last year, allow the NBA to evaluate him but not hiring an agent, which allowed him to return for his junior season. “We’re doing one thing or the other.”
A different NBA scout than the one who talked to me told Braziller: “I don’t think he’s done enough to make himself a no-brainer [to get drafted].”
Mullin, of course, is an invaluable asset to Ponds here, and if his recon yields a different verdict, it only makes sense for Ponds to follow.
But if it doesn’t, or if it feels like draft night will be a crapshoot, why not give yourself another year? Too often in these cases momentum takes over, and it almost feels like he would lose face if he changes his mind. But it could also work in his favor if he recognizes flaws in his game — and, terrific as he is, there are a few — that could be ironed out with another year on campus.
If he’s already made up his mind — and maybe he has — you can only hope the best for Ponds, who played hard every game he wore a St. John’s uniform. But if he hasn’t …
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