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Aggie Mullings has dazzled in international play

LAS CRUCES – Every stop along the way, Daniel Mullings has exceeded expectations.

New Mexico State was the lone school to offer Mullings a basketball scholarship, but the rising junior guard has turned out to be among the best players in the Western Athletic Conference. The Toronto native wasn’t well known on the Canadian basketball scene either prior to Canada’s run to a fourth-place finish in the World University Games earlier this month in Russia.

But he is now.

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“I knew or I knew of maybe half of them,” he said. “Those guys already knew each other. They have all gone through the junior Canadian tryouts, and I didn’t really do any of that stuff. It was more me trying to get to know them more.”

Mullings was a key contributor for Canada in his first international experience, averaging 10.5 points on 52 percent shooting to go with 5.6 rebounds per game and a team-high 12 steals as Canada went 6-2.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity that I got,” Mullings said. “Just being able to play well and contribute to the team the way that I did kind of helped put my name out there on a bigger scale.”

Mullings returned to Las Cruces last week after a demanding process that began with tryouts in Portland, Ore., on June 1, a 9-0 exhibition game run through China, and eight in Russia.

“When I was going through it, I didn’t look at it like that and just took it step by step,” Mullings said. “We had training camp and then went to China for two weeks, then I was back in Toronto for some time off and then training camp in Toronto and then we were in Russia for two weeks. I’ve been gone from here for almost two and a half months. I am tired body-wise. I’m just getting used to being in one time zone.”

Portland Trail B lazers assistant coach Jay Triano coached the Development Men’s National Team. Triano also coaches Canada’s senior team, which will announce its upcoming tryout schedule and roster Monday. Mullings is now on Triano’s radar.

“I think (Mullings) definitely put himself in a really good position,” said NMSU assistant coach and fellow Canadian Paul Weir. “Now his job is to follow up with a really good year in the NCAA, but it put him on the map as far as a prospect. He made a really good impression.”

When Canada traveled to China in mid-June, Mullings was given the No. 16 jersey, a number that doesn’t even exist on a FIBA roster. But outside of guards such Kevin Pangos from Gonzaga and Baylor’s Brady Heslip, backcourt players north of the border aren’t as common as big players.

Weir kept Mullings’ name on the mind of Canada’s staff for a possible tryout, and Mullings did the rest.

“The whole country has a little bit of a lack of depth at guard after the top couple guys,” Weir said. “I think they were open to looking at new guards. He’s a kid I had been putting in front of them for a while, and I think the Student Team was a perfect fit for that. Once he got there, he made it worth his while.”

Mullings carried a heavy offensive burden on NMSU’s NCAA Tournament team last year, and he will have to do so again as a junior. But in a national team shirt, he played a role similar to his first year with the Aggies. Even if he wasn’t the team’s primary scorer, Mullings still had four games in double figures.

Aggie coaches have given Mullings time off to catch up with academics and rest in hopes of an invite to the senior national team tryouts. But Mullings is already looking forward to joining his teammates and using his experience this summer to his advantage.

“I am in the gym with (former Aggie Tyrone Watson) in the morning and I see the guys here,” Mullings said. “From what I have seen so far, everyone is working hard all summer. I see guys in here extra. It’s picking up.”