DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. – Jackie Mullen was looking for a fresh start and better chance to grow and shine. She left Christ the King to play at The Hun School (N.J.) after the Royals won the state Federation Class AA title in 2010. Mullen, who will do a post-grad year there this season, was a bench player for the Royals on that squad and was mostly used as a shooter.
She was looking for a chance to do more.
“Last year I would defer to the other guards because that was my role on the team,” the 5-foot-6 Mullen said. “My role on the team was to shoot.”
She knew she had found a clean slate the minutes she arrived at the New Jersey prep school. Most of her teammates were playing together for the first time. Many hadn’t even heard of the fabled Christ the King program.
“It was a change for me,” Mullen said. “I was out of New York and nobody knows who I am. … They didn’t prejudge me or anything. I got to do my thing and I did it really well this year.”
She was a starter and a captain from Day One and lived up to every bit of it, at Hun. Mullen was developed and used as a point guard, but became a more capable ball handler in the expanded role. The Ozone Park native averaged 10 points, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game en route to being named an All-MAPL honorable mention selection and named to the Trentonian All-Prep girls basketball team.
There is a bounce in her step and more determined look when the ball is in her hands. Mullen has interest as a point guard from dozens of colleges including Kent State, Princeton, Lafayette and Division IIs Chestnut Hill and St. Rose.
“It took me some adjustment in the beginning last year and over the summer,” Mullen said. “Now I feel comfortable dribbling the ball.”
She attributed a lot of that to the work she has done away from playing games. Mullen has worked with famed basketball trainer Jerry Powell and speed and conditioning coach Britton Kelley twice a week. The three-mile runs in most workouts have improved her overall conditioning and the quickness of her first step.
Mullen, whose younger sister Janelle is getting set for her sophomore season at Molloy, has put all of her skills on display this weekend at the USJN/Nike National Championships, her first tournament of the summer, with a collection of players from the Philly Belles. Much like her time at The Hun School, she is meeting and playing with her teammates for the first time, but that hasn’t stopped her from being a leader.
“She understands where players are supposed to be on the court,” Philly Belles Blue coach Charles Brown said. “She is a good floor general. She hasn’t been with this team that long, but she is still comfortable pointing people in the right direction. Her court IQ is very good.”
Mullen is happy about how her game has grown and the effect the move to The Hun School had on her. She is still the dead-eye shooter she was at Christ the King, but is now excelling in other ways.
“I feel more comfortable right now,” Mullen said. “So it opens up more opportunities.”
