After the Loyola men’s basketball team lost to Bradley University in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament March 9, the team headed back to Chicago. Shortly after the Ramblers’ return, associate head coach Bryan Mullins headed to Carbondale, about six hours south of Chicago, for a job interview with his alma mater, Southern Illinois University (SIU).
The interview came after SIU’s previous head coach, Barry Hinson, announced he was resigning from the program after seven years at its helm. Mullins, a four-year letterwinner for the Salukis, was seen as a front-runner for the job from the beginning.