Brendan Mullins was officially hired as an assistant men’s basketball coach on April 17, 2015. He arrived at UIC after spending five years with another Horizon League program, the Wright State Raiders.
Mullins joined head coach Steve McClain and the pair helped to lay the foundation of a bright future for the Flames. Mullins helped to recruit and mentored several young talents, including the 2016 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Dikembe Dixson. Dixson was the unanimous choice as the conference’s top newcomer after he set the Horizon League scoring record by a freshman with 594 points in his first season. McClain helped Dixson to secure a spot on the All-Horizon League team, as well, after he he led the Flames in scoring, rebounding and minutes played. Dixson was named Horizon League Freshman of the Week a record eight times during the regular season and he also set single-season program records in both free throws (169) and free-throw attempts (256).
During his first season at UIC, Mullins also helped sophomore Tai Odiase develop into one of the top rim protectors in the country. Odiase led the NCAA with 3.23 blocks per game during the regular season and he was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team by the conference’s 10 head coaches. Odiase, who blocked 97 shots on the year, was the only member of the five-man squad who was not a senior during the 2015-16 campaign.
The 2016-17 campaign, Mullins' second in Chicago, featured 17 wins and culminated with a postseason berth in the College Basketball Invitational. The Flames had one postseason victory in program history entering the year and they doubled that total over a five-day span in March with victories over Stony Brook and 2016 NIT champion George Washington en route to an appearance in the semifinals.
The Flames also reached the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament for only the third time since 2007-08 by beating 2016 NCAA Tournament participant Green Bay for the first time since the 2012-13 season, a span of 10 games. UIC also swept its regular season matchups against Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy and Milwaukee for the first time since 2012-13, 2008-09 and 2007-08, respectively. The 2016-17 Flames won at Cleveland State for the first time since 2006, and they became the first UIC team to eclipse 100 points since 2003, doing so against both Trinity Christian and Milwaukee.
Out of 351 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams, UIC was the youngest squad in the country during the 2016-17 season according KenPom.com with an average of 0.67 years of playing experience. McClain mentored the youthful group and turned it into one of the nation's most improved teams by winning 12 more games than the previous season. According to NCAA data, which uses the difference in both wins and losses, the Flames finished in a tie for 10
th among the country's most improved teams at +9.
UIC set a handful of single-season statistical records in the second season with Mullins on staff. The Flames scored 2,749 points, the most in program history, breaking the mark that stood since the 1986-87 season by 88 points. Mullins also helped guide UIC to team records in 3-point field goals (272), rebounds (1,426) and blocks (184), while tying the record for assists (524) that was also set during the 1986-87 campaign.
In year two under McClain's tutelage, and with Mullins' help, Odiase became the first player in program history to be named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year as he finished in the top five nationally in blocks per game for the second consecutive season in 2016-17. Two Flames,
Tarkus Ferguson and
Dominique Matthews, were named to the Horizon League's All-Freshman Team, as well. Ferguson, Matthews,
Godwin Boahen and
Marcus Ottey each earned recognition as the Horizon League Freshman of the Week throughout the 2016-17 season and UIC became the first program in conference history to have four different winners in one season.
Mullins was promoted after two seasons at Wright State from the director of operations to assistant coach. During his five years on the WSU sideline, Mullins helped the Raiders post back-to-back 20-win campaigns and a pair of postseason tournament appearances. He also helped Wright State reach 10 wins in league play on three separate occasions.
Prior to his time at WSU, Mullins spent one season as the director of operations at league-member Green Bay. During the 2009-10 season, the Phoenix went 22-13 and finished third in the conference standings with a record of 11-7, earning a postseason trip to the CBI.
Mullins served as an assistant coach at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania for two seasons before heading to Green Bay.
Mullins was a four-year letterwinner at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, where he became one of the most prolific three-point shooters in program history. He ranks fifth on the school’s all-time leaderboard with 200 career triples made. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint Michael’s in 2007 and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Mercyhurst in 2009.
Mullins was recently inducted into the Downers Grove South High School Hall of Fame where he led the Mustangs to an IHSA Elite Eight appearance in 2003.
His father, Mike Mullins, is the director of the Illinois Wolves AAU program and his brother, Bryan, is an assistant coach for Loyola Chicago.
