By ADAM ZAGORIA & DENNIS CHAMBERS
NEW YORK — Chris Mullin has been keeping an eye on the social protests going on around the sports world and plans to sit down with his players soon to discuss potential options for the St. John’s basketball team.
From Colin Kaepernick to Carmelo Anthony to players in the WNBA, protesting social injustice has become a major issue in pro sports over the last few weeks. And with college basketball season now underway, it is becoming an important topic at the university level, too. Virginia players already posted a photo on social media of the team kneeling in protest of social injustice.
“Probably within the next week or so as a team, we’ll have a nice sit down, just a team meeting, little town meeting type thing, and get everyone’s feelings and just really use it as a teaching tool,” Mullin, a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, said Tuesday at Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden.
“I’ve been watching probably more so what the NBA has been doing. They’re always diligent and very socially conscious, so I’ve been watching them and I’m in contact with them so I will share that with our guys, let them share their feelings and their thoughts and we’ll do something together where everyone feels comfortable.
“St. John’s, too, our mission is about service,” Mullin added. “That’s what we’re about, service to others. So we do a lot of community service. That’s built into our University so from that standpoint it’s a natural.”
Mullin said he wasn’t certain if the players would kneel in unison like the Virginia players did, but that he’s completely comfortable with social protest.
“We haven’t got that far,” Mullin said. “I think it’s really a healthy dialogue. I think it’s a good thing to talk about it and get different views. We have kids from all over the world on our team. It’s a class in itself to get different opinions and come together. That’s the thing I like most to where it’s about taking care of each other, unity and doing things together.”
Butler coach Chris Holtmann said he’s also discussed the topic with his players, going so far as to mention Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” an open letter written in 1963 that defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism.
“I talked to them about Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letters From a Birmingham Jail’ and the idea of young people protesting social injustice if they see social injustice and the way that he went about it so we were able to have some open dialogue,” Holtmann said. “Some of our young men spoke up and we ask them, ‘Have you seen this or been a part of something that’s bothered you? And if so talk about it.’ When your players can engage on that level, it can be a uniting factor.”
Asked if his players would kneel or take any other actions, Holtmann said no decision has been made.
“They’re going to make that decision on their own,” he said. “They didn’t say anything at this point and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t. If they do that would be totally up to them.”
Villanova’s Josh Hart, the Big East Preseason Player of the Year, said he “respected Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem but wasn’t sure his team — the reigning NCAA champion Wildcats — would follow suit.
“We’ll talk a little bit more as a team this week but that’s something I respect,” he said. “I respect Colin Kaepernick to the fullest for doing that. Obviously, everybody has their own views. We’re going to talk it over with the captains and with coach [Jay Wright] and see if there’s anything we want to do specifically. So I can’t say that we’re going to do something, I cant’ say we’re not going to do anything. Just my personal view, I respect him for it.
At Seton Hall, several players have discussed the topic as well.
“We haven’t really talked about what we’re gonna do, but we definitely talk about what’s going on today,” junior guard Khadeen Carrington of Brooklyn said. “It’s sad to see what’s going on, but we haven’t really talked about what we’re gonna do.”
He added: “I think Coach [Kevin Willard] would kick our butt if we do something like not stand for the anthem. It makes it different. [Kaepernick] is getting paid, he can do something like that as opposed to us. We can definitely do something though, something more respectful.”
Said junior wing Desi Rodriguez: “I don’t think we’re gonna do anything like that. But it definitely shows you’re trying to make a change for the country, and for us to come together as one and stop the hatred against each other, for athletes especially.”
Just as St. John’s has players from outside the country, Seton Hall also features junior forward Angel Delgado, a native of the Dominican Republic.
“I’m not from this country, I don’t know what to tell you,” he said.
Said Willard: “I’ll support my guys whatever they want to do.”
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