| | By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com
The past three offseasons have meant three things to Notre Dame's big man Troy Murphy. The first two aren't all that unusual for a college basketball player: working out harder than the year before, and trying to make improvements to his game. The third, however, has become something of an unwelcomed occurrence -- introducing himself to yet another new coach.
Ironically, for a guy who has no problem beating the constant double teams to drain jumpers from anywhere on the court, saying "Hello, I'm Troy Murphy" each summer in South Bend, Ind., has been the hardest thing for him to do.
|  | | Troy Murphy is sure to be the new coach's favorite option after averaging 22.7 points a game last year. |
This year, the 6-foot-10 forward said "Hi" to his third different coach in as many years. Remember, this is an All-American who was recruited by John McLeod, played for Matt Doherty last year and will star on an Irish team coached by Mike Brey in the 2000-01 season.
"The hard part is that I came in to play for coach McLeod and I believed in him and I looked up to him and then he was gone," said Murphy just hours before his first practice with Brey. "Then coach Doherty came in and I believed in him and then he was gone too. So I guess you can't really learn anything from that, and you're just really forced to grow up."
Don't expect the annual coaching change that has recently become a quirky tradition in South Bend to slow down the '99 consensus first-team All-American and Big East Player of the Year. He's been through all this before. His role may be redefined, but he remains the Irish-Man.
Adjusting to Doherty last year appeared easy enough. Murphy averaged 22.8 points and ripped down over 10 rebounds a game as a sophomore. By season's end, Murphy had gotten used to Doherty, who coached the Irish to two upsets of defending national champion Connecticut and an appearance in the NIT finals. But weeks after the Morristown, N.J., native passed on being an NBA lottery pick to stay with the coach, Doherty was gone to North Carolina to replace Bill Gutheridge.
If the basketball world felt sorry for Murphy, he said it shouldn't have. His situation doesn't warrant pity.
"I don't think people should feel sorry for me," Murphy said. "I go to a great school that I go to for free. I play basketball and I'm doing something that I love. I've had some tough luck as far as coaches go, but it's like dating a couple of girls and then finally you'll get married."
While getting "married" to Brey is now highly unlikely with one year of eligibility remaining and the NBA awaiting, Murphy -- an economics major -- knows what he's worth. And while he has discussed this season with Brey at length over the past three months, he isn't even sure what the latest coach has in store for him.
"I really don't know how things are going to change," Murphy said. "I guess we'll find out when we start practice. Coach Doherty was very structured. When I was at a spot on the floor, I knew that's where I was going to get the ball. I think coach Brey is more of a freelance coach and will let his players play more."
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I don't think people should feel sorry for me. I go to a great school that I go to for free. I play basketball and I'm doing something that I love. I've had some tough luck as far as coaches go, but it's like dating a couple of girls and then finally you'll get married. ” |
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— Troy Murphy,
All-American junior forward |
Murphy prides himself on the changes he's made to his game in the offseason. After his freshman year, he worked on free-throw shooting and upped his percentage from the charity stripe to a remarkable 80 percent last year. He also became a three-point threat, attempting 76 more three-pointers in his sophomore season and shooting a slightly better 31 percent from behind the arc.
This year? Murphy worked to improve his footwork and got in better shape. He's bulked up, his 6-10 frame now carries 257 pounds, and trimmed his body fat percentage.
"I think I worked really hard on being in shape this year," he said. "I've worked harder than I ever have and I'm clearly in the best shape of my life so that I can run up and down the court and be where I need to be all the time."
While Murphy didn't necessarily need any tutorials on work ethic, he got one at the Pete Newell Big Man camp in mid-August.
"I learned how hard pro basketball players work. Those guys don't mess around," Murphy said. "Alonzo Mourning was running sprints after a two-hour practice in 85 degree heat in Hawaii and that guy makes, what, $20 million a year?"
The key to making this year a success, he said, is winning the big games with consistency and avoiding the even bigger letdowns. Last year, for every win over Connecticut and St. John's, came crushing losses to Villanova and Providence.
Thanks to Murphy and the rest of the veteran lineup, this year's team is expected to win. The Fighting Irish are ranked 16th in ESPN.com's preseason top 25 and will be returning four starters in addition to Oklahoma transfer forward Ryan Humphrey.
Surrounded by a great supporting cast, Murphy believes that the Irish will make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990. Like any great leader, he is obsessed with that goal.
"I think about it everyday," Murphy said with a chuckle. "I think about how the crowd would be, where we'd play, what the ball would feel like. I don't think about it every hour, but sometimes when I'm sitting in class or if I'm in lecture hall, I wander a bit and hear the sound of the horn, and I get that feeling in my stomach -- like the nervousness that comes before a game. The thoughts go through my head: Are they going to be showing our game on TV? Who is going to see us play? It's that kind of stuff that keeps me going."
The fear of failing isn't a bad motivator either. That fear enables him to handle success with humility and to play every game with the desire to get better minute-by-minute.
"I remember when I was younger reading about all these guys that were top players and McDonald's All-Americans," he recalled. "I had their pictures all over my room. You look for most of those guys now and they aren't even there. They just fade away. I don't want to be like that."
Don't worry, Notre Dame will remember Murphy. Even if he does leave before his newest coach.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Troy Murphy makes a huge play with this ferocious jam.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Troy Murphy receives the lob pass inside and gets the layup.
avi: 455 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Troy Murphy gets the pass and scores.
avi: 639 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Notre Dame's Troy Murphy hits the leaner.
avi: 859 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Murphy fights through traffic for the putback.
avi: 546 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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