The Florida Gators basketball team has had a lot of success recruiting players from the Murphy family the last few years.
That started when Billy Donovan landed forward Erik Murphy and continued when the Gators landed Erik’s younger brother in forward Alex Murphy from Duke when he decided to transfer two years ago.
Now that Mike White is the head coach for the Florida Gators he’s trying to keep that going and he’s recruiting the younger Murphy brother in 2017 forward Tomas Murphy (6-7, 195, Northfield, MA MT. Hermon) who talks to the Gators a little bit.
“I talk to Coach White and several of the assistants at Florida a good bit,” Murphy said. “I don’t talk to any coach heavily because my high school season is upcoming. After my season is over then I will start to talk to more coaches.”
White is new on the job but he has left a big impression on Murphy so far and he continues to tell Murphy that he likes his style of play.
“Coach White was messaging me in July and telling me that he was watching my AAU games a lot,” he said of White’s message to him. “He was telling me that he liked my game and that he like my style of play. I was down there with both of my brothers this spring working out and I had the chance to talk to him every day for a little bit.”
Last spring Murphy was in Gainesville working out and he had the chance to really get to know White and his staff better.
“I think he’s a great, high energy guy, and he’s an enthusiastic guy from what I’ve seen,” Murphy said. “I don’t know much about him as a coach but we will see how it goes this year and that will be a big indication of what he’s going to do.”
The 2017 prospect doesn’t know a lot about White but he’s really looking forward to learning it this season as he watches his brother in the Orange and Blue playing for the Florida Gators.
“He’s told me that they are going to play fast and up-tempo with a lot of pressing,” he said. “He has told me that it’s a system that I can fit into well and I’m looking forward to seeing it plus watching my brother in the system.”
Murphy still has a lot of time to go in his recruitment but he says that things will pick up this season as he starts to really get into the recruiting game.
“Every school that has offered me is recruiting me the same, I only talk to the schools maybe once a week or so,” Murphy said. “Once the high school season and the AAU season starts up then I will start talking to everyone more but I know that they are still looking at kids that will be seniors this year.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Murphy will be a big spectator for the Florida Gators this season because he wants to see how well he will fit into the Florida Gators basketball system under Mike White and his staff. Murphy also will likely visit Florida for a basketball or two this season to see his brother Alex Murphy play.