Notre Dame's Dynamic Duo - Troy Murphy and Ruth Riley expected to boost both the men's and women's basketball teams at Notre Dame

Basketball Digest, Jan, 2001 by Tom Noie

Though they couldn't be more different, a pair of All-Americans, aptly named Murphy and Riley, have Irish fans eyes smiling this-season

LOGIC ALLOWS THAT IS NO way the two most high-profile student-athletes at the University of Notre Dame have even a crumb in common.

One is an easy-going left-handed power forward for an Irish men's team ready to back onto the national scene. Born raised within a three-point basket of York City in Sparta, N.J., he sometimes resembles a class crown rather than first team All-American.

The other is intensely private, the tallest ever on an Irish women's team that has enjoyed great group success. She hails from a one-stoplight town in rural Indiana, two hours south of campus. Shy in the public eye, she prefers to retreat to home and spend time with her friends and family.

For every way Troy Murphy and Ruth Riley differ away from the game, they remain strikingly similar on the court.

They are the only two Irish athletes to have their own home pages on the university Web site. They are the only two with individual accomplishments on display in neighboring trophy cases on the first floor of the Joyce Center. They are the standard spokespersons for their respective teams.

They also provide the Notre Dame community something special this college basketball season.

Hope.

For Murphy, who bypassed a chance at millions of NBA dollars this spring, nothing else wall matter if he cannot lead the Irish into the NCAA Tournament next spring for the first time in 11 years.

Down the Joyce Center hallway, Riley, unmoved over being handed an endless string of individual honors, wants simply to be just another ingredient within a potentially lethal mix in Notre Dame's push toward a second Final Four bid.

Those dreams drive the duo.

Murphy has been known to cut short phone conversations with his mother so he can get to the gym ... at midnight. He'll fire away until "it feels right." Sometimes it will be 10 jumpers. Other times, over 200. The end will not arrive until he can tear off 20, 25, or 30 consecutive baskets.

Such push stems from Murphy's high school days at the exclusive Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J. Working mainly against inferior competition, Murphy dominated. The lack of competition kept Murphy's name far down the lists of premier prospects. Murphy still remembers who ranked ahead of him, and how some of those guys are now bagging groceries.

"He wakes up every morning and says, `God, if I don't work, I won't be any better than those McDonald's All-Americans,'" Irish coach Mike Brey says. "He's really stepped on the gas as far as working out."

Murphy dreams daily of the NCAA Tournament--what the crowd sounds like, the feel of the ball, the intensity bouncing through his body.

"It's important to me," he says, "But I don't feel I'm obsessed with it."

Riley is also known for her relentless workouts schedule. During summer school, she would scrimmage against male students whose main responsibility was to bang and body Riley to help toughen her up for the season.

One splendid fall afternoon, while the rest of the Notre Dame community flooded the campus parking lots to tailgate before an Irish football game, there was Riley, alone in the basketball arena working through various low-post moves.

Unlike Murphy, thoughts of the NCAA Tournament do not dominate the life of Riley. She's simply one piece of a puzzle.

"There's always going to be pressure for everyone," says the Macy, Ind., native. "I wouldn't say that I have more pressure on me than any of my teammates."

Riley has scored 1,400 points her first three seasons. Her 257 blocks are a school record. She needs 274 rebounds to become the first player in school history to log 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. She's ranked on everyone's All-America list and is a finalist for player of the year.

Thanks to her 6'5" frame, Riley believes her responsibility to close down any traffic that wanders into the lane. Doing so leads to foul trouble. Quick whistles often send Riley to the bench early in critical contests.

These days, Riley finds herself answering questions about her fouls as often as she's asked to ponder her Final Four dreams.

"It gets a little old," she says. "But I guess it's kind of my fault. If I can correct the situation, I wouldn't hear about it any more."

Irish women's coach Muffet McGraw has simplified the constant concerns of keeping No. 00 involved--just be smart. If an opposing guard is closing fast for a layup, let her go.

"She usually gets one or two fouls for making [dumb] plays," McGraw says. "If we could eliminate those, we could survive a bad call or two, [but] she hates to get scored on.

"She doesn't brush it off."

While Riley hopes to blend into the background, Murphy entered his junior season satisfied to shoulder the enormous expectations tossed upon his 6'11", 245-pound frame. A starter from the minute he stepped on campus, Murphy has garnered almost every individual honor--from Big East Rookie to Player of the Year to first team All-America--his first two years at school.