Freshman to Watch: Prout’s Murphy Already Has D1 Offers
Friday, December 20, 2013
Being eased into the spotlight just wasn’t ever an option for Prout freshman Tomas Murphy. The 6’8” 9th grader (you read that right) is the son and brother of NBA players, and with speculation swirling that the youngest Murphy brother might just develop into the best player in the family, all eyes have shifted towards South County as basketball season gets underway in the Interscholastic League.
With a 26 point debut last Friday night against defending state champion Classical, Murphy made good on the hype. URI Head Coach Dan Hurley and Providence College Head Coach Ed Cooley were both in attendance for Murphy’s debut.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“I just usually try to tune it out," Murphy said of the coaches’ attention. Because Prout is loaded with other potential college players, coaches have been keeping an eye on the team since summer league. Murphy said he thought the team had grown accustomed to the presence of college coaches and the added attention won’t be a factor in the Crusaders’ performance on the court.
Speaking of which, Prout knocked off East Greenwich 51-39 on Monday, with Murphy chipping in 17 points. The Crusaders fell victim to an upstart Middletown team on Wednesday, however, and fell to 1-2 on the season with a 46-45 loss.
Murphy feels confident he’s settled in after 3 games and expects to play well in the team’s next game, Friday night vs. Chariho. Adjusting from the faster paced AAU game to high school ball is tough on young players, but Murphy is comfortably making the transition.
"It's just completely different the way it's played,” said Murphy. “AAU is more up and down, there aren't as many plays. High school's a lot of half-court, you have to know your sets, run your sets."
Jay Murphy (Tomas’ father) was a standout at Boston College and was a 2nd round pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. Erik Murphy grew into an All-SEC player at Florida and was a 2nd round pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Alex Murphy received similar recruiting grades to Erik and elected to attend Duke, but recently opted to transfer to Florida and will play his final season and a half in Gainesville starting next December. Paivi Murphy (wife of Jay, mother of Erik, Alex, and Tomas) played for Finland’s women’s basketball national team. Needless to say, the Murphy family’s unofficial starting 5 is pretty good. As the youngest in the family, Tomas is the beneficiary of a lot of words of wisdom.
"He (Jay) is obviously a huge influence and both my brothers are as well, just giving me little tips and pointers that help so much," said Murphy.
One area Murphy can lean on his brothers is in recruiting advice. Both Erik and Alex were among the most sought-after players in the country in high school, and Tomas is on that same path.
"I try not to think about that too much," he said. “What they say a lot of the time is just to take is slow, take your time and enjoy it. Don't think about it too much too early.”
Maryland, Boston College, Florida, URI, PC, and Bryant have all extended scholarship offers to Murphy already. He said towards the end of his sophomore year or at the beginning of his junior year he would begin to look into schools more closely.
Interestingly, Murphy said he has no plans at this time to follow his brothers and attend St. Mark’s prep school. St. Mark’s (with considerable help from Erik and Alex, among others) has recently built up a solid basketball program that has stocked major Division 1 programs with elite recruits.
"As of right now I'm staying at Prout for this year and next year," said Murphy.
Murphy is expected to continue growing and should top 6’10” Erik as the tallest member of the Murphy family.
"I think my post game is probably what I use most know, but I think I can definitely show more, be more of a 3/4 than a 4/5,” he said, referencing a desire to be more of a Forward than strictly a low post big man. "I'm trying to work on being a little bit more of a guard, my skills on the wing, being more athletic, being a better defensive player, I think if I can do all that then everything will come together."
It’s the great paradigm seen in basketball players over and over again- the shorter guys want to be taller, dunk the ball, and block shots; The big guys want to handle the ball and drain 3-pointers.
Alex Murphy (shown here with Duke) is transferring to Florida next semester and will be eligible to play next December.
The thing is, the Murphys actually develop those guard skills. Erik Murphy developed a 3-point shot at Florida that made him appealing to NBA teams as a “stretch” big man. Alex Murphy has the slashing ability most 6’9” players can only dream of.
For Tomas Murphy, his individual goals rest simply in becoming a better all-around player. The more immediate goal is winning the open tournament state title this season (teams from all RIIL divisions are eligible).
Prout will be a game opponents circle on the calendar this season, and the Crusaders can expect every team’s best effort as opponents try to steal the show in front of the college coaches. But like everything else thrown his way, be it a coach’s eyes, an opponent’s double team, a fan’s trash talk about living up to his surname, Murphy will be unaffected.
While we’re watching him, he’ll be focused on the task at hand. And that makes both Murphy and his teammates even more worth watching.
