College basketball notes: Chris Mullin is the new coach at St. John’s

Chris Mullin, St. John’s all-time leading scorer and still the face of its basketball program three decades after his career ended, has agreed to coach the Red Storm, a person with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press on Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no formal announcement.

Mullin, who led St. John’s to the Final Four in 1985, has never coached at any level. He replaces Steve Lavin, who agreed to leave last week after five seasons during which the Red Storm reached the NCAA tournament twice. Lavin previously coached at UCLA.

Mullin, a New York native, was a five-time NBA All-Star with Golden State, a member of the USA’s gold-medal winning “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympics and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Georgia State’s Hunter going pro

Georgia State junior guard R.J. Hunter, who hit one of the most memorable shots in the NCAA tournament, said that he will enter the NBA draft. Hunter, whose father Ron coaches the Panthers, led the team to its first NCAA appearance since 2001, then capped a remarkable comeback by hitting a long three-pointer to beat Baylor, 57-56, in a second-round NCAA game. The two-time Sun Belt Conference player of the year is projected as a mid- to late-first-round draft pick.

AP All-America team

Wisconsin’s 7-foot center Frank Kaminsky was a unanimous choice and Duke’s 6-11 freshman Jahlil Okafor received all but one first-team vote for the Associated Press’ 2014-15 All-America team. Also on the first team are Notre Dame senior guard Jerian Grant, Kentucky junior center Willie Cauley-Stein and Ohio State freshman guard D’Angelo Russell.

Coaches hired

Dave Paulsen, a three-time Patriot League coach of the year who took Bucknell to the NCAA tournament twice, left the Pennsylvania school to become coach at George Mason. . . . Jeff Neubauer resigned at Eastern Kentucky, where he went 188-134 and made two NCAA tournament appearances, to take the Fordham coaching job. . . . East Tennessee State hired Wichita State assistant Steve Forbes as coach, 17 days after firing Murry Bartow. . . . Utah State promoted longtime assistant Tim Duryea to head coach, replacing Stew Morrill, who retired. . . . Duggar Baucom left Virginia Military Institute to take the Citadel coaching job.

Etc.

Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin was cleared to resume coaching after missing most of the season because of a problem with a blood vessel in the back of his brain. . . . Texas freshman Myles Turner, a 6-11 forward projected as a potential lottery pick, said he would enter the NBA draft. The announcement came two days after coach Rick Barnes was fired. . . . Sophomore point guard Brandon Randolph said he would transfer from Xavier after averaging 2.4 points and 1.2 assists in diminished playing time this season.