Mullins’ evolution the latest revelation as UConn continues to ascend toward its peak

Braylon Mullins attempts 3-pointer during UConn’s win at Kansas. In just two games, the highly touted freshman has already lived up to his massive potential. (Photo by Denny Medley/Imagn Images)

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Braylon Mullins’ ability to shoot and space the floor was what attracted Dan Hurley to the McDonald’s All-American, eventually getting the 6-foot-6 Mr. Basketball from Indiana to spurn his hometown Hoosiers in favor of UConn.

Mullins’ journey to the self-proclaimed basketball capital of the world was anything but smooth, however. An ankle injury suffered in practice just weeks before UConn’s season opener delayed his debut. And with teammate Tarris Reed, Jr. also hampered by injury in the first month of the season, the outlook for the Huskies — although still promising from a long-term view — appeared more cautiously managed from the immediate perspective.

The tension has lessened in recent days, replaced instead by the optimism that permeated the program leading up to the season after Mullins not only made his long-awaited maiden appearance in a UConn uniform Friday against Illinois, but followed it up with a performance that turned more heads Tuesday. In just his second career game, Mullins may have been the best player on the floor for the fifth-ranked Huskies, scoring 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and posting a team-best plus-13 as UConn defeated Kansas for the first time in program history.

Similar to how Stephon Castle was eased back into the lineup two years ago following an early-season injury, Hurley has done the same with Mullins. The coach regretted not being able to play his star rookie more than 10 minutes against Illinois, but was able to help acclimate him further against Kansas, to the tune of 22 minutes and 54 seconds against the Jayhawks, who were shorthanded themselves as freshman sensation Darryn Peterson was unavailable.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m really happy to be back on the court,” the humble freshman remarked. “That’s the first step in cutting off the minute restriction. I kind of thought that after the ten minutes (against Illinois), I thought I’d just get to play a little more, but it was just kind of the flow of the game. But 22 minutes is much better than 10 minutes, so I was really happy to get back out there.”

Mullins admitted to feeling nerves in the opening minutes Tuesday, attributing that to his relative inexperience as well as the intimidating environment of Allen Fieldhouse, but found a comfort zone as the night progressed.

“As the game went along, we just played basketball,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a child’s game. We got some stuff done and we got the win.”

His coach continues to herald the potential of the latest star recruit to trust his development to the Huskies’ staff. And in circumstances like Tuesday’s, where Reed was declared out for the third time in four games, Mullins’ effort and impact becomes all the more valuable.

“There’s been a lot of impressive freshman performances,” Hurley conceded. Obviously, this is a special freshman class, but in these six weeks, with the type of injury he had to the knee and to the ankle, and just to be his second college game, where we were down, he sparked us. He put us in a position to win this game. This was the first step for him, and he’s obviously going to make our team a lot better moving forward.”