Murphy makes himself right at home
Junior-college transfer gives Pitt booster shot
There was some hesitation in Ryan Murphy’s cadence. It was time for an admission, and within the first several words, that initial pause became much more understandable. The danger of what he was saying was clear.
“My mom is going to hate me for saying this …,” the Pitt guard said.
As he went on to explain, Murphy’s mother “wanted no part of me going to the East Coast,” far, far away from his family’s home in Southern California. He had done it to them once already, having spent his freshman year at Charlotte, and once it came time to find a new home after a year at New Mexico Junior College, he had done it again, choosing another school more than 2,000 miles away.
Yet, on Wednesday night, as her son tallied a team-high 13 points in Pitt’s win against Florida State, Murphy’s mother was at Petersen Events Center, watching as her son introduced himself to a new set of fans all too happy to embrace him. He was a long way from home, sure, but as one night showed, he had found a new one.
Murphy’s debut with the Panthers was a memorable one. On a night in which his team struggled on offense, the junior guard was a consistent source in that area, making 3 of 6 3-pointers while also doling out three assists. Playing in front of more than 9,000 fans — easily the biggest crowd he had watching him since at least high school — in an unusually high-pressurized season opener, Murphy rose to the occasion.
It was, for him, the fulfillment of a vision he had when he first visited the school, the very dream that brought him here in the first place.
“I realized how much this place could be rocking,” Murphy said. “I remembered seeing Pittsburgh on TV in the Big East. I was like, ‘Let’s try to change the culture and turn something around and kind of shock people.’”
His path to Pitt was nowhere near as smooth as his shooting stroke.
After a freshman season at Charlotte in which he averaged 6.7 points per game and shot 40 percent from 3, Murphy left the school, due in large part to a coaching
change, but also because he believed he had been pigeonholed as a shooter when, to him, he was much more than that. He spent the next season at junior college, where he attracted the interest of any number of suitors. He originally signed with Washington State but was released from his letter of intent shortly after Cougars coach Ernie Kent was fired.
When it came time to decide again, he narrowed his list down to three — Washington State, Gonzaga and Pitt — with the last of those three options proving to be unshakable. Murphy already knew Pitt sophomores Trey McGowens and Au’Diese Toney, and he had established a strong relationship with head coach Jeff Capel and his younger brother, Jason, an assistant coach. It was more than enough to convince him to move across the country.
In the victory against the Seminoles, he showed just what he could do for them while also living up to the billing he had earned from his teammates and coaches in the preseason as a knockdown shooter. In what could have devolved into a blowout early, with the Panthers unable to make seemingly anything, Murphy kept them afloat. When Pitt trailed by nine (40-31) with 13 minutes remaining in the game, Murphy had made three of his four shots,
all of them 3s, while the rest of his team was just 5 of 31.
By the time Pitt scored 10 unanswered to take the lead, it had Murphy to thank for being in that position at all.
“He’s done a good job for us,” Capel said. “He has a talent in that he can really shoot and he’s very confident. But he also knows how to play. He’s a little bit better off the bounce. He knows how to play and he has a passion for playing.”
Before discussing anything about the game or his outing Wednesday night, Murphy first thanked the team’s student managers and assistant coach Milan Brown. Since the team’s trip to Italy, they would always be there for him when he needed extra shots, which, as he explained, is quite the task. Every night, Murphy said he comes back to the team’s facility around 7 p.m. or later and makes anywhere from 500 to 700 shots from a variety of different setups — catch and shoot, off the dribble, free throws — with the managers fetching his makes and misses. In the mornings, he works out with Brown.
“I’m in here all day,” Murphy said with a laugh.
That work showed against Florida State while also exhibiting the value he can have to a team with capable dribble-penetrators such as McGowens and Xavier Johnson, who can often glide to the basket with relative ease.
“You’re forced to load up the lane to keep them from attacking the basket and when you have a couple of guys like Murphy who can make some jump shots, they become a dangerous team,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.
With his ballhandling and passing ability, Murphy also got the chance to show he is more than a spot-up shooter. Part of what sold him on Pitt was Capel as a coach, but also Capel’s idea for how he could use Murphy, not only as a shooter, but as someone who can work off ball screens and attack the basket at times.
Still, to that same coach, Wednesday night only showed a small fraction of just how much Murphy might be able to help this season.
“I thought we missed him some tonight,” Capel said. “I think there are still areas, especially in transition, where we can do a better job of finding him. As we understand as a group, as a team, how to utilize that weapon a little bit more, I think that will help us become even better.”