Howie Kussoy

Howie Kussoy

College Basketball

Mullins family that hoops together stays together

It began with basketball, because of course it did.

Andy Mullins was a freshman point guard at Bishop’s University in Canada, playing at a tournament in Waterloo, Ontario, when the university’s women’s coach asked him to talk to a female recruit.

“I told him it didn’t work,” Theresa Mullins said with a laugh.

Though not immediately charmed by her future husband, she attended the school anyway. Both played point guard on their respective teams, with Theresa playing professionally in Holland and on the Canadian national team — missing out on the Olympics because of the 1980 boycott.

Basketball was in their blood, and soon would be embedded in their four children.

Grant, a sophomore, is Columbia’s leading scorer and Missy, a junior, is Harvard’s second-leading rebounder. Across the border, the youngest, Mike, is playing as a freshman at Queen’s University in Ontario, while Marie, a senior, played at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

The siblings are barely separated in age and even closer in each other’s lives.

Missy Mullins plays forward for Harvardcourtesy Harvard Athletics

“I think it’s kind of odd, the way we all get along,” Missy said. “I know we would all call each other, like each other’s best friends. I don’t know if that’s normal. The one funny thing that people always note is you can tell we’re all siblings and we all look the exact same, but we’re definitely different.

“Marie is very witty, has a dry sense of humor. I’m kind of the quiet one. Grant is kind of the fun one, just winning over any crowd in room, and Mikey’s like the smartest kid you’ll ever know, and also the sweetest.”

The family has been playing pick-up games with each other and against one another since the children could dribble in their driveway, at the park near their home in Burlington, Ontario, at the local gym on Sunday mornings or at their yearly vacation spot in Florida.

Basketball brings them together, but it doesn’t have to. Their parents never stressed its importance, they only stressed activity.

The Canadian kids played hockey (of course), soccer, tennis and volleyball, among other sports growing up, because Andy and Theresa believed they should try everything, even if it meant waking up at 5 a.m. to drive Grant to hockey practice.

“There never was any real pressure, it was just a lifestyle,” Andy said. “Our view was we didn’t want the kids focusing in on one sport at a real young age, where a lot of kids do that now and get burnt out later on in life.”

The children gravitated to basketball, finding their greatest success under their live-in coaches. Theresa and Andy coached the kids’ teams when they were young, but even in this family, where friendliness seems contagious, some years were tougher than others, as the children got older and sought some independence.

But the pointers never stopped. Andy still works out with the kids and teaches them individually, mostly working on fundamentals. Grant, who could first beat his father one-on-one when he was 14 or 15, is now given challenges during their battles to keep it competitive, like shooting from only one spot on the floor or having to dribble while playing defense.

The challenges continue, the drive has never slowed.

“Grant and Mikey would spend hours and hours and hours out on our driveway hoop and sometimes other boys in the neighborhood would come to play, but they couldn’t hang,” Missy said. “They’d be there for 15-20 minutes and go home. Grant would be out there for god knows how long, 10 hours, every day, and he just never got tired of it. I remember my parents saying, ‘What is wrong with this kid? He just doesn’t get sick of it.’ From an early age, he had a drive that really surpassed any other kid.”

Grant Mullins (left) in action for ColumbiaAP

After a summer playing on the Canadian Development Team in China, Grant has assumed many of the responsibilities vacated by Brian Barbour, who graduated from Columbia ranked in the top 10 all-time in points, assists and steals. Led by Mullins’ all-around efforts, the Lions (7-5) have won two straight games, heading into Saturday’s game against St. John’s.

This week, Grant was back at home, enjoying rare time together with his family for the holidays. When he came back to New York, his parents followed.

This weekend, the proud parents will watch Grant and the Lions at Barclays Center, then see Missy and the Crimson play in the Fordham Holiday Classic. On the way back to the border, they’ll catch Grant one more time, playing at Colgate on Monday.

It all couldn’t have worked out any better for Theresa and Andy — the schedule, too.

“I can’t even explain how much they’ve helped me in basketball and in life,” Grant said. “Growing up, my parents invested so much time and energy into us and taught us so many things. They said we could do whatever we wanted to do and they just wanted us to work hard and try and be the best at whatever we did. I don’t know if it was a coincidence that we all picked basketball, but I think they’re happy with it.”