Hoops and Humility Can Coexist

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Feb 28, 2000 | by Barker Davis

Who was the last player to lead the Big East in scoring and rebounding? Notre Dame's Troy Murphy, currently leading the league in scoring (24.6 points) and ranking second in rebounding (10.7), ponders the question:

"Alonzo Mourning ... Billy Owens ... Derrick Coleman ... Patrick Ewing," guesses the sophomore power forward, pausing briefly between each wrong answer. "Man, I don't know."

In fact, no player in the 20-year history of the Big East has led the league in both categories. But Murphy very well could become the first.

Amazingly, many college basketball fans have never heard of the 6-foot-10-inch 237-pounder from Sparta, N.J., who is steadily pushing the Irish toward their first NCAA tournament appearance in a decade. His game of midrange jumpers and blue-collar boardwork isn't SportsCenter friendly. And his straight-faced candor and languid beach-bum speech don't exactly make him a camera magnet.

But if you're bored with the chest-thumping, throat-slashing, cliche mongers who dominate college hoops, watch the giant leprechaun dissect a defense and then shrug off his performance with self-deprecating wit.

"I really don't understand what all the hubbub is about," Murphy says, unimpressed by his 33-point, 16-rebound performance that paced Notre Dame to a 75-70 upset victory at then-No.2 Connecticut. "We run a lot of plays where I get good looks from 5 and 6 feet. It's not all that impressive if you break down the game film and look at where I'm scoring from."

The only child of two teachers, Murphy was ranked among the top-30 prep seniors two years ago. He was courted by the likes of North Carolina, Indiana and Southern California.

"I wasn't convinced I'd make it as a serious player, so I wanted to go somewhere I'd get a serious education," says Murphy. "In the end, I decided Notre Dame had the best blend of athletics and academics." So Murphy signed with the Irish -- a school that hadn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1990.

Last season, he averaged 19.2 points -- only Georgetown's Allen Iverson (19.8) had posted higher marks as a freshman. And he led the conference in rebounding (9.9), becoming the first freshman in Big East history to do so. Those numbers made him a unanimous selection as Big East rookie of the year, but Murphy wasn't particularly satisfied.

"I was pathetic from behind the arc last year -- I think t only made, like, four of 13 or something," says Murphy, who is shooting better than 43 percent (16-for-37) from 3-point range this season. "Anyway, everybody started saying I didn't have any range. So, I went out last summer and decided to do something about it. I shot like 300 3-pointers a day."

In typical Murphy fashion, he didn't fire those practice salvos in the air-conditioned peace of Notre Dame's Joyce Center with a South Bend minion feeding him balls. Nor did he hone his jumper under the watchful eye of a shooting specialist. He stretched his stroke alone on the heat-scorched asphalt of Sparta's community park -- the same place where he learned to play the game.

"My dad started taking me down to the park when I was in like fifth grade," Murphy says. "I guess it was sort of rough, but I never really noticed, to be honest.... I'd hope an odd number of guys would show for the pickup games because that would mean I could play. I was real big for my age, like maybe 6-1 or 6-2 in the fifth grade, but all the other guys were a lot older. Once my dad stopped coming, they roughed me up a lot, throwing elbows and hips and all, but that really made me a tough player.

"I remember the day I became a regular. This one fat kid who was just a little better than me pulled a trash can over to one of the rims so he could jump off and dunk. He held on and bent the rim, and the other guys basically banished him from the park. From then on, I was one of the guys and I learned to play half-court with guys who were older and more physically developed than me. They taught me the game, man. High-school ball was nothing compared to pickup games at the park."

Two years from now, when Murphy has collected his diploma and is awaiting his selection in the draft, he could be saying the same thing about Big East ball.