Report: St. John's nearing deal with Chris Mullin, hoping to announce this week

A two-time Hall of Famer is coming home to St. John's.

NCAA, NBA and Olympic legend Chris Mullin is expected to be hired as the new head coach of St. John's basketball program, possibly as early as Sunday. The school has offered Mullin the job and he's expected to accept, barring any last-minute issue during negotiations, according to a report from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

The Red Storm job became available Friday, when the school and Steve Lavin mutually agreed to part ways. 

Mullin has no formal coaching experience but has served as an executive, adviser and broadcaster at the NBA level since retiring in 2001. His basketball resume is nearly unmatched and as the school's most famous alum, he should be able to bring some recruiting clout and a publicity boost for the program.

It's not as if a lack of coaching experience is a death knell, anyway. Several former NBA players have successfully transitioned to the sidelines - sometimes with a stint in an executive suite, sometimes without - and there's nothing to suggest Mullin can't follow suit.

If he accepts the job, his first task will be sorting out the situations with Rysheed Jordan and Chris Obekpa, who appear to be in holding patterns with their futures after Lavin's departure.