Mustapha Heron

Mustapha Heron
No. 14 – St. John's Red Storm
Position Shooting guard
League Big East Conference
Personal information
Born (1997-12-12) December 12, 1997
Derby, Connecticut
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Sacred Heart
(Waterbury, Connecticut)
College
Career highlights and awards
  • Second-team All-SEC – AP (2018)
  • SEC All-Freshman team (2017)
  • 2× Connecticut Player of the Year (2015, 2016)

Mustapha Heron (born December 12, 1997) is an American college basketball player for St. John's University. He most recently competed for the Auburn Tigers in the Southeastern Conference.

Early life

Mustapha Heron was born on December 12, 1997 in Derby, Connecticut to parents Thalia and Bryan Heron. He started playing basketball at the age of three. He has three sisters: Imani, Zari, and Aja.[1]

Heron gained notoriety as an eighth grader after a video of him guarding NBA all-star Chris Paul one-on-one at the Five-Star Skills Clinic was posted to YouTube in 2011. The video has since been viewed over 2 million times.[2]

High school career

Heron played his freshman year of high school at Wilbraham & Monson Academy before transferring to Sacred Heart High School, where he won three consecutive Connecticut state championships. He averaged 22.0 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game as a junior at Sacred Heart, and 30.2 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game during his senior season, including scoring 79 total points in the state semifinals and championship game.[3] Heron was selected as the New Haven Register Connecticut Boys Basketball Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, becoming the first player to win the award twice since Kris Dunn.[4] He was also recognized nationally, earning a spot on the USA Today All-USA Boys Basketball Third team in 2016.[5] Heron was selected to play in the 2016 Ballislife All-American Game, where he was named co-MVP alongside Lonzo Ball.[6]

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Mustapha Heron
G/F		 Waterbury, CT Sacred Heart 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Aug 16, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:5/5 stars   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports:5/5 stars    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 25th (#7 SF)   Rivals: 19th (#6 SG)  247Sports: 24th (#4 SF)  ESPN: 25th (#4 SG)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Auburn 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  • "2016 Auburn Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.

    Despite being initially committed to Pittsburgh, Heron committed to play basketball at Auburn University on August 16, 2015,[7] and signed his National Letter of Intent to attend the university on November 12, 2015. In doing so, Heron became the first five-star men's basketball recruit to play at Auburn in program history.[8]

    College career

    In his first season at Auburn, Heron scored in double figures in every game but one, leading the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game and rebounding with 6.1 rebounds per game.[9] At the end of the season, he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.[10] He was also named to the SEC All-Community Service team for his work in encouraging academics for athletes at his high school, Sacred Heart High School, and in promoting a weapons buy-back program in his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut.[11]

    Heron was selected as the SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for weeks 9 and 12 during his second season at Auburn.[12][13] At the end of the regular season, Heron was selected to the AP All-SEC Second team.[14] He averaged 16.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore. On April 4, 2018, Heron declared for the 2018 NBA Draft but did not hire an agent. He announced that he was withdrawing from the draft but will transfer to be closer to his ailing mother in Connecticut.[15] On May 31, Heron announced that he was transferring to St. John's and intended to seek a hardship waiver to play immediately.[16]

    Career statistics

    Legend
      GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
     FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
     RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
     BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

    College

    Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
    2016–17 Auburn 323228.2.442.423.7706.11.3.8.215.2
    2017–18 Auburn 323228.6.439.331.8035.3.91.2.116.4
    Career 646428.4.440.372.7865.71.11.0.115.8

    References

    1. ↑ "Mustapha Heron". NBA.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
    2. ↑ fivestarbasketball (2011-12-01), NBA Player Chris Paul goes one-on-one against a top 8th grader, retrieved 2017-04-24
    3. ↑ "'It would mean everything' - Basketball's Mustapha Heron ready to make instant impact". Retrieved 2017-05-01.
    4. ↑ "2015-16 Register State Boys Basketball Player of the Year: MUSTAPHA HERON, Sacred Heart - GameTime CT". GameTime CT. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
    5. ↑ "ALL-USA Boys Basketball: Third Team". USA Today High School Sports. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
    6. ↑ "Full Game: 2016 Ballislife All-American Game presented by Eastbay". Ballislife.com. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
    7. ↑ "Five-star Mustapha Heron commits to Auburn". Scout.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
    8. ↑ "Five-star Mustapha Heron signs with Auburn Basketball". Retrieved 2017-04-17.
    9. ↑ "Mustapha Heron College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
    10. ↑ "2017 SEC Men's Basketball Awards announced". Retrieved 2017-04-17.
    11. ↑ "2017 SEC Men's Basketball Community Service Team". Retrieved 2017-04-17.
    12. ↑ "Week 9: Men's Basketball Players of the Week". Retrieved 2018-01-11.
    13. ↑ "Week 12: Men's Basketball Players of the Week". Retrieved 2018-01-29.
    14. ↑ "Jared Harper, Bryce Brown, Anfernee McLemore, Mustapha Heron earn All-SEC honors from coaches, AP". AL.com. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
    15. ↑ "Mustapha Heron withdraws from NBA draft, to leave Auburn". ESPN. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
    16. ↑ Borzello, Jeff (May 31, 2018). "Guard Mustapha Heron transferring to St. John's". ESPN. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
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