Mullen signs with OCU
Nov. 8—ELNORA — North Daviess' multi-sport standout Jaylen Mullen signed a letter of intent Monday to continue his basketball career with coach Ken French at Oakland City University.
Mullen was a junior All-Star last season and a member of the 2022 Class A State Champion North Daviess Cougars. As a point guard, Mullen not only knows how to distribute the ball with outstanding court vision, but can score from both the 3-point line and in the paint. Through his junior year, he has 997 points, which is third on the school's all-time list (16. 3) ppg, second in assists with 321 assists and fourth in steals (133). He averaged 5.3 boards and four assists last season as well.
He also was a 3-year All-SWIAC player and a three-time Times Herald first team All-Area
Mullen has also become the all-time leader in area tennis, losing only his individual regional final match this year, while becoming the area's all-time winningest player by both number of wins and percentage. He also had an excellent baseball season the one year he played
Mullen said that he immediately felt at home at OCU.
"The biggest thing for me whenever referencing 'home' is family, and that's what Coach French preached, when he first offered me was family. And that's what it feels like, I just wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and that was Oakland City. I'm able to do that there. I hope to become a teacher and I'm going to minor in business while I'm there," said Mullen.
Mullen thanked his teammates, coaches and family for the supprt he has had.
"I'm certainly blessed to have the teammates that I've had, the coaching staff to win a state championship last year and be selected as a Indiana Junior All Star. Everybody sets their own goals, and for me, playing college basketball was one of those goals, and I was able to accomplish that by signing today. But you know, as Coach French told me, 'It's not over, this is just the beginning,' so I'm excited for the future."
French said he knew early on that Mullen was the kind of player he wanted at OCU.
"Obviously, he's good basketball player, but it's his character that attracted us. In reality, he's the very first person when I got the job that we offered to. He had just completed his sophomore year, and I came up and watched him in a summer shoot out summer league game. It was a no brainer. I liked how he played, liked how he competed and we developed a relationship from there and I told him that day I said, 'Look, I'm going to make it very, very hard for you to tell us 'No.' I think it's a good fit for him and it's a great fit for us," said French. "He's a winner. He doesn't have to score but he can. He's going to have to get bigger and stronger to be able to guard at our level. But he's got the tenacity to do that and he just makes winning plays. He knows how to win and his leadership is attractive for us. He just has those intangibles. We call it a 'level three communication'. He can he can organize a small group and that's what you need in a point guard. It's an extension of the coach on the floor."
His high school coach Brent Dalrymple, who North Daviess won a state title under last year, believes Mullen will be very successful at OCU.
"This is exciting and really happy for him and I think he's made a great choice by going somewhere where he thinks he can be competitive. Coach French and the OCU program does a tremendous job, and Jaylen will fit in with his overall ability to know the game. It's going to be different for him. But like, you just said, he's a winner and he's always been a winner and he'll find a way to make this work," said Dalrymple.
Jaylen is the son of John and Sarah Mullen of Loogootee, and Kylee Frye of Bloomington.
John Mullen, who has coached Jaylen at several levels and in several sports, simply said, "I'm incredibly proud to be his father."
