Troy Murphy may be the proverbial big man on campus at Notre Dame, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s living large.
Murphy’s dorm room is no different from any other Irish student’s, leaving the 6-foot-11-inch forward with little room to maneuver when he’s in for the night. A recent Sports Illustrated profile on Murphy likened his living quarters to “solitary confinement at Leavenworth,” suggesting the tiny space could be a factor in Murphy’s decision whether to return for his senior year or enter the NBA draft.
“It’s a tough place to live in sometimes,” the junior All-American acknowledged. “I could pretty much stand in the middle of it and touch both walls. I have to keep it real clean because if it’s not orderly, sometimes it’s tough to walk around, and my feet are always hanging off the bed.
“I don’t know if that would make me want to leave, though. I’m going to make a decision at the end of the year and base it on a lot of stuff that happens this year. I can’t say what I’ll do.”
Murphy was at the same crossroads last year at this time when he was on his way to winning the Big East Player of the Year award. He opted to stay at Notre Dame, passing up the NBA’s millions for an opportunity to put Irish basketball back in the limelight.
“The major reason was playing in the NCAA tournament,” Murphy said. “Last year a lot of people didn’t think we could get that close. The anticipation and then watching teams play in it got my appetite going. It was something I’d regret . . . if I left not playing in the tourney.”
Murphy and the 21st-ranked Fighting Irish (8-2) begin conference play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at No. 14 Syracuse in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.
The Irish were ranked 10th in the Associated Press poll only a month ago, their first Top 10 ranking since the 1980-81 season. But they took a dive after losing back-to-back home games to Indiana and Miami of Ohio and have not been back in the Top10 despite a four-game winning streak.
Syracuse’s only loss was to Southeastern Conference power Tennessee, making Tuesday’s matchup a proving ground for the Irish.
Despite a sprained ankle, Murphy leads the Big East in scoring at 23 points per game and, along with Syracuse star Preston Shumpert, is one of 30 players in the running for the John R. Wooden Award for national player of the year.
Are the Irish ready for prime time, or was their high early-season ranking a fluke?
“I think when we somehow got to 10th, the guys were looking at the polls,” first-year coach Mike Brey said. “Since then we haven’t looked at the polls much. When you’re getting ready for league play the poll goes out the window, and so does whatever record you have. You’re cleaning the slate after December.”
Notre Dame has beaten the only other ranked team it has played, but the Cincinnati squad it took apart Nov. 25 wasn’t nearly as strong as its No. 13 ranking at the time suggested.
The Irish don’t just dream of winning the Big East–they believe they can go far in the tournament, with Oklahoma transfer Ryan Humphrey taking some of the scoring and rebounding pressure off Murphy. Humphrey had double-doubles in three of his last four games, and with would-be powerhouses such as Arizona and Duke falling recently, no team appears invincible this season.
“I look at Arizona, Michigan State, Duke and Illinois, and they have a little different look than the rest of us,” Brey said. “I know three of them (Arizona, Duke and Illinois) have been knocked off lately. Still, I think it’s more wide open than you have seen since the early ’90s. The power is evenly distributed, but look at the schedules and where they’re playing. It’s changed in that those teams put themselves in position to get beat by playing big games in December.”
The Irish, meanwhile, still view themselves as in a building mode, just trying to get into the tournament after finishing second in last season’s NIT. They have feasted on the likes of Canisius, Vermont, Loyola, Sacred Heart and Long Island, none of which will be confused with Duke or Michigan State.
Where the Irish are in comparison with other top teams is something that will be known only when the Big East schedule unfolds.
“I think we compare to the other top programs,” Murphy said. “The Syracuse game will be a great test. We haven’t gone into a Top 25 team’s building and won.”
