Now all that’s missing on the St. John’s coaching staff for the full “Run TMC” reunion is Tim Hardaway.
Mitch Richmond will fill the vacant assistant coaching spot under head coach Chris Mullin, the school announced Thursday. Richmond served as a special advisor for the Johnnies last season. Richmond and Mullin played together for three years on the Golden State Warriors, part of a high-scoring trio that also included Hardaway.
“I’m excited that he’s so into it,” Mullin said Thursday in a phone interview. “When I made the change, I talked to him about it, and right away, he was like, ‘I want to help you.’ He’s really into helping these guys.”
Richmond replaces Barry “Slice” Rohrssen, the recruiting guru who was let go a month ago. Rohrssen, a former Manhattan College head coach and assistant coach at Pittsburgh and Kentucky, was unhappy with his role at St. John’s, according to sources. He expected to have a bigger say in everything from recruiting matters to in-game strategy, and his relationship with childhood friend Mullin had turned sour.
Richmond joins recruiting ace Matt Abdelmassih and Greg St. Jean as the three assistant coaches under Mullin. Under his new title, Richmond will be allowed on the road to recruit and be active in the day-to-day machinations of the team, from practices to game-planning and scouting. Richmond said the job “was tough for me” last season because he wanted more of a say, the ability to be more hands-on with players. He has that now.
“There are so many avenues I think I can help,” Richmond said. “It’s exciting for me. This is another journey of my life, another journey of basketball. Just to be working with Chris Mullin, one of my favorite people in the world, I couldn’t pass it up.”
Mullin isn’t planning to hire anyone to fill Richmond’s old advisor position. He also didn’t feel he needed to add an experienced Xs-and-Os coach.
“I feel pretty good about what we have,” Mullin said.