Indiana Basketball Recruiting: Hoosiers closing in on Sharpshooter Braylon Mullins

Five-star, 2025 wing Braylon Mullins will announce his commitment on October 23rd, according to reporting from Joe Tipton. Mullins will choose between Indiana, UConn and North Carolina as his final three schools. The Hoosiers have targeted the Greenfield, Indiana native, culminating with an official visit to Bloomington on September 21st. After landing Mullins’s AAU teammate Trent Sisley, Mike Woodson will hope to reunite Mullins and Sisley in college.

Mullins broke out this summer to establish himself as a top prospect in his class, dominating for a juggernaut Indy Elite team. On the Adidas 3SSB circuit this season, Mullins averaged 19.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.5 boards a game on a scorching 64.2% true shooting, per Synergy. Few players on any circuit or across any age group scored like Mullins did.

Braylon Mullins’s elite shooting

The 6’5 wing was one of the country’s best shooters this AAU season. Mullins converted a ridiculous 41.7% (73-175, 0.63 three-point attempt rate) of his high volume and degree of difficulty. His excellent 84.6% free-throw percentage bolsters his impressive shooting resume. He’s efficient on and off the ball, nailing 40.4% of his catch-and-shoot triples and a ridiculous 48.3% of his pull-up threes on low volume (14-29).

Mullins’ dynamic, versatile shot profile projects him as an elite marksman at the next levels. High volume often reflects high confidence, a trait all elite shooters possess. With a quick, high release, contests don’t bother Mullins. He’ll adjust his release height depending on the distance and position on the floor.

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braylon mullins runs off all types of actions to hit jumpers, he’s comfy sprinting all directions, quickly adjusting and getting shots off. true weapon off-ball shooter pic.twitter.com/VGhStdL5qZ

— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) October 7, 2024

Mullins isn’t just a standstill catch and shooter. He’ll fly around all sorts of screens moving left and right, pulling from NBA range while quickly setting his feet and adjusting his body. When defenses give space, Mullins dribbles into pull-up threes.

Mullins’s secondary skills

Defenses can’t simply run Mullins off of the line when they sell out to limit his jumpers as a result of his ancillary skills. He’s an excellent secondary passer, capable of punishing over-aggressive defenses with his smooth floor processing. Mullins won’t spam pick and rolls as a primary handler and make live-dribble reads often. That skillset isn’t as important as his off-ball passing for his future, though.

it wouldn’t shock me to see braylon mullins (’25) playing in the NBA in 4-5 years after he’s shot the lights out this summer for indy elite

beyond his shooting, the ancillary skills — advantage passing, off ball feel, handling — are that of a pro shooter pic.twitter.com/6GYiFWnIzD

— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) June 1, 2024

Few shooters at this level process the game quicker than Mullins, zipping the ball around the floor on extra passes, hit-ahead passes and reads off of his basic drives. He’s a textbook reactive passer, consistently punishing defensive mistakes. And Mullins forces plenty of defensive mistakes with his shooting gravity alone.

Despite not offering a ton of downhill creation, Mullins scores efficiently at the rim (65.7%, 87th percentile) as a result of his elite cutting feel and great touch. His lack of burst and vertical explosion might limit Mullins’ paint efficiency against the powerful athletes at the college and pro levels. Still, he should work himself into enough open shots with off-ball movement to thrive.

He’s enough of a handling threat to dribble into jumpers or basic drives. Mullins may never create advantages with incredible shift and change of direction, though his ball control is sound and sturdy enough for him to function as a second-side attacker.

The defense will be Mullins’ major improvement point at the next levels, as he lacks the footspeed and size to defend the ball reliably. His feet and hips can open sluggishly against quicker handlers and he’s not strong or big enough to wall off the most athletic attackers he’ll face.

Braylon Mullins’s outlook

Mullins is a strong off-ball defender, though, positioning himself well on the weak side. He’s a solid events creator, averaging 2.1 stocks (steals + blocks) per game this past season. If Mullins can reliably force turnovers and win with his feel and recognition as an off-ball defender, that could be enough to raise his defensive baseline in college.

At the college level, Mullins should immediately slot in as an impact player. He’ll add value especially for a Hoosiers team that shot 32.4% from three on the whole last season. Even if he’s not scoring at the volume he did in high school, Mullins will space the floor, move off of the ball and maintain the flow of good offense.

Mullins is more than a shooter. That’s what makes him special — many teenage snipers can’t do much else outside of their shot. His playmaking skills, along with enough ballhandling to navigate some traffic, allow Mullins to maximize his shooting. The NBA’s best movement shooters all know how to exploit their gravity and the defensive attention they receive. In that regard, Mullins is no different. 

If everything breaks right and Mullins can progress athletically, he’ll become a true NBA prospect. He’s one of the ten best possible one-and-done prospects from his high school class. Even if Mullins only spends one season in Bloomington, he’d be an incredibly good addition to whatever Indiana’s roster looks like.