Thanks to injuries, Tucker Mullen knew after four years on the men’s lacrosse team at the University of Virginia, he still had two more years of eligibility remaining.

What he was unsure about, at least for a while, was whether to use them. After much deliberation, Mullen decided he would.

“I thought to myself, ‘Alright, I’ll at least enter the [transfer] portal and see what happens,'” he said.

Off the bat, Mullen said there were several teams who were interested in him, but not wanting to rush the process, he decided to wait through the summer to make a decision.  

It wasn’t until a former teammate of his reached out to Mullen telling him to give head coach Jake Richard a chance. This former teammate, Xander Dickson, also played with Richard on the PLL’s New York Atlas. 

“I was really close with Xander, so obviously I respected his opinion,” Mullen said. 

Finally in contact with Richard, after trying to be recruited by him, Mullen made the trip to Milwaukee. Just two days after his visit, he committed to Marquette in early August and decided to continue his education on a two-year graduate program. 

“In any case like that, there is a gamble in the transfer portal for both sides,” offensive coordinator Andrew Smistad said.
”Tucker, he doesn’t know anybody here, so he’s taking a bit of a gamble and like, ‘Will this be a good fit?'”

But since putting on the blue & gold, Mullen has proved he fits right in on the field, establishing consistency in the Golden Eagles’ first eight games of the season.

Mullen’s 13 goals tie for third on the team with Beau Westphal behind Carsen Brandt’s 21 and Nolan Rappis’ 19.

So far, in Marquette’s eight of nine games, he’s totaled 17 points, has 26 shots on goal, four assists and two hat tricks.

“He helps to add to our overall skill and our ability to finish the ball and find some soft spots,” Smistad said. “He’s not a guy that’s going to demand the ball a ton in his stick, which is a good thing because you don’t want to have six guys that all want the ball in their stick and can’t do anything off the ball.” 

Smistad said that Mullen’s experiences with the Cavaliers bring a level of maturity to the team. He can share previous experiences and how they helped his game, passing on that wisdom to younger players.

Mullen wasn’t always a standout player. At UVA, he was seen on the field nine times. At Marquette, he’s played in all but one.

Despite being a No. 55 overall prospect and No. 14 attacker in the nation (InsideLacrosse) in high school, his years at Virginia were different.

So different, in fact, his junior year he said he had to ask himself, “Is it just going to be time to hang it up?”

After getting hit at a practice in 2022, he dislocated his shoulder, ultimately tearing his labrum. That led to surgery number one.

Then, his junior year, he woke up one day with a chest pain.

“I went to a million different doctors in a month span, and they were like, ‘You’re totally fine,'” Mullen said. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not fine. I can’t even do a lap around the field.'”

Further testing showed that Mullen had been born with an anomalous coronary artery, which meant his coronary artery had abnormalities.

“The guy was like, ‘If you want to play sports again, you like need to get this surgery.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna get it,'” said Mullen.

That marked surgery number two, but he wasn’t done yet.

Mullen then got pericarditis, a swelling that forms around the heart after the sac is filled with fluid. The pericarditis came back four different times after the initial open heart surgery, leading to no physical activity for what Mullen said was about a month.

After medication and MRIs, Mullen was cleared to play again, leading him to his senior year at UVA.

“I finally felt like I was out of it,” he said. 

Warming up before a match against Maryland, he planted his foot “weird.” He knew something wasn’t right, but continued to rehab and play. He then found out he had torn his hip labrum. That led to surgery number three.

However despite getting knocked down time and time again, there was only one thing he could do.

“If I can’t do anything about it, time’s gonna fix it,” Mullen said. “You can either make that time more miserable, or you could choose to throw a smile on your face and figure it out.”

For the next two seasons with the Golden Eagles, Mullen is focusing on getting his confidence back — something he lacked post-injury.

“You gain a great perspective for the game and a lot of gratitude for it when you have it taken away from you a couple times,” Smistad said. “I think it gives him a new lease on life with the sport and just enjoying being around the guys, being on a team, playing the sport and throwing the ball in the net.”

Mullen now has the opportunity to play consistently, whereas his previous seasons were on and off. While he doesn’t have any individual goals set for himself this season, he’s mainly focused on team success.

“I haven’t played a ton in the past,” Mullen said. “Hopefully, we have a lot more lacrosse left to play. I want to be a team that makes the tournament and wins the Big East.”