'An All-American Indiana Kid': Hear From Mullins' HS Coach
‘An All-American Indiana Kid’: Hear From Mullins’ HS Basketball Coach
GREENFIELD, Ind. — The biggest shot of the 2026 NCAA tournament sent UConn to the Final Four and one central Indiana city into a frenzy.
With his team trailing by two and just 2.4 seconds left on the clock, number 24 for the Huskies, Braylon Mullins, threw up a shot from 35 feet that his former high school basketball coach had a good feeling about.
“I knew he was going to make it as soon as it left his hands,” former Greenfield-Central boys basketball coach Luke Meredith told WIBC’s “The Hammer and Nigel Show” on Monday. “I’ve seen that shot a million times.”
UConn defeated Duke 73-72 on Mullins’ buzzer-beating three-pointer. That was the only three he made in the game.
Meredith said everyone watching the game at his house Sunday night went crazy when the shot went down. His phone started blowing up soon after, too.
“I had 185 text messages and I felt like I did something,” Meredith said jokingly.
“It was so unbelievable and I’m just so happy for him because he deserves it,” he added about Mullins.
The Huskies trailed the Blue Devils by as many as 19 points in Sunday’s game. Following the come-from-behind win, the team can now prepare for the Final Four in Indianapolis, not too far from Mullins’ hometown.
Meredith remembers meeting Mullins at Greenfield-Central when he was a seventh grader, a tall, skinny kid with some serious bounce even then. He said his game really took off and people began to notice him when he became a junior. That’s when “blue blood” schools like UConn came knocking.
“He bet on himself on, going 800 miles away and going to play for the best in Dan Hurley with all of the options that he had,” Meredith told “The Hammer and Nigel Show.”
Off the court, Meredith calls Mullins “an elite young man who comes from a great family.”
“He’s a good student, a great person and a heck of a basketball player…an All-American Indiana kid,” he said.
Mullins’ three is already being hailed as one of the most memorable and clutch shots in March Madness history. Meredith described it as “butter.”
“It’s a credit to him and his work ethic,” said Meredith.
During his senior year in 2025, Mullins was named Indiana Mr. Basketball, a McDonald’s All-American, and became the all-time leading scorer at Greenfield-Central. Mullins finished his high school career with 2,158 points.
Greenfield is located about 30 minutes east of Indianapolis along I-70. It has a population of about 26,000.
2-seed UConn will play 3-seed Illinois in the first of two semifinal games at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. That game is set to tip off at 6:09 p.m. ET. The second semifinal game features 1-seeded Arizona and Michigan, starting at approximately 8:49 p.m. ET.
The national championship game will be played Monday night at 8:30.
