Former Rutgers guard Paul Mulcahy announced on Tuesday that he is transferring to Washington. He will play his final season of eligibility at the PAC-12 school under seventh year year head coach Mike Hopkins.
“I believe that the Covid year has been a blessing for me to have another chance to chase my dream,” Mulcahy told Tipton. “I think Washington has some elite pieces over there and are hungry to win at a high level. I believe this decision will make me push myself harder than ever before.”
After four years at Rutgers as a core member in the rise of the program, Mulcahy entered the transfer portal on June 9. He took reported visits to Notre Dame, Xavier, Gonzaga and Washington while receiving interest from several other schools.
He leaves the program 4th all-time in assists with 457 in his career. His contributions over four seasons were critical towards the success the program had. Mulcahy was the catalyst when Rutgers became the first unranked team in college basketball history to defeat to win four straight games against ranked foes.
Mulcahy averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 32.4 minutes per game this past season. He shot 41.6% from the floor, 37.0% from three-point range and 72.3% from the foul line. He was 4th in Big Ten play in assists and 6th in assist-to-turnover ratio, along with 7th in steals.
Fighting through a shoulder injury most of the season, Mulcahy struggled the last month plus of the 2022-2023 campaign. Rutgers finished 3-8, just missing a third straight NCAA tournament appearance.
During the 2021-2022 season, Mulcahy became the first Rutgers player to average more than 5+ assists in 27 years since Brian Ellerbe during the 1984-1985 season. Mulcahy averaged career highs as a junior with 9.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
Through four seasons at Rutgers, Mulcahy played 121 career games and started in 81 contests. His career averages include 6.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 27.5 minutes per game. Mulcahy shot 45.1% from the floor, 36.4% from three-point range and 71.6% from the foul line in his career.
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BataliBoli98
July 4, 2023 at 4:18 pm
“Elite piece and are hungry to win at a high level.” Okay but Washington was 8-12 in the Pac 12 last year and .500 for the season. To my eyes Washington doesn’t seem better positioned than RU to make a run into the tourney. However, Washington does a better job of advertising NIL opportunities for their players. It took me under a minute to find that their top player, Keion Brooks, will record a video for you ($45+), make an appearance at your practice or event ($395+), etc. You can even submit a proposal to him that is outside of the listed opportunities on the Washington hoops site. I wonder if someone tied to the university is making a sizeable donation to Paul’s foundation? Regardless, I wish him well but Go RU!
DranktheRUkoolaid
July 4, 2023 at 11:50 pm
Congratulations to Paul. Washington is, historically, a great basketball program and a fantastic school.
I am especially grateful that he went as far away from New Jersey as possible. It just would have been too wierd having him play for a program reletively close by.
Best of luck going forward.
RU858
July 5, 2023 at 12:56 am
Win-win-win, all around.
While an unintended consequence of the current NIL policy, this feels like a good thing; comparable to a veteran baseball getting a free agent contract as a full-time DH at the end of his career.
Congrats Paul on landing a well-earned, more lucrative NIL deal.
RUinChiTown
July 5, 2023 at 6:38 pm
Best wishes to Paul as he evolves into a Husky! But he’ll always be a Scarlet Knight
Aaron, any chance you can get him for an interview (especially why he left)?
pj43
July 5, 2023 at 10:02 pm
I thought PM was headed to ND but I assume the NIL deal with WA was good enough to be the deciding factor. Whatever, wishing him the best and it wouldn’t be the the worst thing to have him get another shot at an NCAA Tournament on a neutral court against let’s say, Rutgers. Hey, why not?!
RU858
July 6, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Did Paul receive any actual offers from the high major programs extending official visits?
Aaron Breitman
July 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm
Yes as I wrote and can confirm Notre Dame and Xavier were all in and he took official visits. ND had an assistant tie to Paul and abuse has his good friend Zach Fremantle. Both school really wanted him from what I understand.
Gonzaga and Butler interest as well. There were other suitors that didn’t advance.
I was told Washington made the largest NIL offer by a wide margin. I cannot confirm what Paul’s decision making process was, but he obviously felt it was the best situation for him.