Muprhy shining bright
Lorcan nominated for national sports award
2020 could not have started any better for Lorcan Murphy. Almost a year ago, on January 25, the Co. Wicklow native produced one of his finest performances to date, as his 33-point return helped Griffith College Templeogue to a 78-68 win over DBS Éanna for their third Hula Hoops Pat Duffy National Basketball Cup in five years.
Now, almost 12 months on from his talismanic showing in the cup final, he has been nominated as one of the Irish Independent’s sportspeople of the year; a direct recognition of his heroics in the National Stadium.
Murphy was a part of the club for their previous National Cup wins, in 2016 and 2018, but it was in 2020 where he came of age; assuming more of a senior leadership role within a team that had no shortage of such.
‘Well, the first one, in 2016, I was kind of a bench player, so I didn’t play that much. 2018 was really good. It was the first time that I felt like a big part of it and that I was getting over the hump, and then I feel like 2020 kind of solidified us as a really strong team over the last five or six years, so it was kind of a, ‘we are still here, and there is more to come’, kind of vibe to it,’ Murphy said.
‘I feel I was part of the team in 2018, but in 2020, I was one of the leaders. We have our captain Stephen and big Jay. They are obviously major roles in the team, but I felt like myself and Neil were in a position to step into leadership roles.’
Murphy’s sporting background lent itself to a future in basketball. Having played soccer, rugby, cross-country, and GAA in his youth, he found his early calling competing in high-jumping, in which he became Irish Schools’ champion in 2012 for Presentation College, Bray; the school’s last champion in that discipline.
His experience in high-jumping directly contributed towards his successes in basketball.
In 2018, a video of him landing a reverse dunk for Black Amber Templeogue in the opening round of the 2016 National Cup went viral, and he cited high-jumping as having helped him pull it off.
According to the man himself, Lorcan was not and is not the most skilled of basketball players. Instead, he credits the work-ethic of the team itself as being the main reason behind his and their success last year.
‘Jason Killeen described it one time as, he is the workhorse, I am the show pony, so it is like a reflection of how the team works, really. It is hard work from everyone, I just happen to be the one scoring. On any other day, it could have been Neil (Randolph), (Jason Killeen), (Stephen James). It just happened to be me on the day, which is lucky for me, but it is really a reflection of the team’s work and commitment.
‘I think athletics gave me the basis, kind of athleticism-wise, fitness-wise, and then it was just adding skill to that. I am still by no means an incredibly skilled basketball player, but athleticism is a great base for any sport, and you are just adding skills to that.’
It is a good thing that Templeogue were able to win their fifth National Cup at the beginning of 2020, seeing as how the rest of the year has been something of a damp squib, all told. Murphy, who is looking forward to completing a Master’s degree in teaching in NCAD in 2021, lamented what was lost in 2020, but is hopeful that things will get better as the new year progresses.
‘It is kind of at this time of the year and
there is no cup going on, but looking back on it, it was a great memory that I will have forever, and I am eager to get back to playing basketball. Hopefully, in the future, I will have more, similar memories,’ he reflected.
‘It has kind of made people, I guess, be a bit more innovative in their trainings and stuff, but obviously, from a social side of things, you can’t see the lads, you don’t get to train together.
‘It is all isolated training, so looking back on it all that, I feel sad; it is kind of like wasted time off, in that respect, but I think, going forward, it could be a way that we can change and build and kind of adapt to the circumstances.’