For Rob Murphy, it’s hard to believe. Only three years removed from coaching Crockett Technical High School back home in Detroit, he has made the jump to Syracuse – one of the top college basketball programs in the country and his favorite team growing up.

After former Syracuse assistant coach Troy Weaver took a scouting position with the Utah Jazz, it allowed Murphy to follow in his footsteps. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim hired Murphy to fill Weaver’s spot in early July, and, so far, it’s been all he hoped for.

‘I really didn’t think it was possible,’ Murphy said. ‘It was so far away. I never really thought about coming to Syracuse. When it happened for me, I was very excited. It’s like a dream. You don’t think it will become a reality.’

Murphy comes to SU after two seasons at Kent State.

‘From July until the time he left here, he walked around with a huge smile on his face,’ Kent State assistant coach Geno Ford said.

Murphy, who now dons the Orange shorts and T-shirt on a daily basis, has been a Syracuse fan since he was a teenager. In 1987, he cheered for Detroit native Derrick Coleman as SU faced Indiana in the national championship.

Murphy has been a fan ever since.

Rob Murphy always had a knack for developing players. When Murphy was an assistant coach for the Kent State basketball team from 2002-2003, Antonio Gates – the Golden Flashes’ best player and Murphy’s protg from Detroit – earned an All-American honorable mention, something not too common for players from the Mid-American Conference.

After averaging 20.6 points and 7.7 rebounds a game as a senior, Gates went on to make millions of dollars in pro ball – pro football that is. Gates, whom Murphy coached at Detroit Central High School, left the sport he loved, basketball, to play tight end for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers.

‘Three inches taller and he’s an all-star in the NBA,’ Murphy said. ‘If he had a chance right now to really get in shape, he could play in the NBA.’

Murphy had the ability as a coach and as a person to help players succeed in anything they did, Kent State assistant coach Rob Senderoff said.

‘He did a great job teaching Antonio,’ Senderoff said. ‘He helped him with college and he taught him how to win. He taught him how to be a good person.’

After Gates left Murphy and Central High, where he was a two-sport athlete in basketball and football, he went to Michigan State to focus solely on the gridiron. But soon, Gates grew unhappy.

‘He was in love with basketball and didn’t want to play football,’ Murphy said. ‘He didn’t go to class and kinda rebelled because he didn’t like the workouts. He just wanted to be a part of the basketball team.’

Nick Saban, then the head football coach at Michigan State, did not allow his players to participate in another sport. Gates transferred after his first semester to Eastern Michigan, where he played basketball. But after that first season and a coaching change, Gates went to junior college in California.

Gates earned an associate’s degree before meeting up with Kent State’s Oronde Taliaferro, who had also coached at Central. A year later, when Taliaferro left, Murphy came in with new head coach Jim Christian.

Murphy and Gates fostered a close relationship like the one they had at Central. The two still talk weekly.

Coming to SU may be the most obvious career choice Murphy will ever make, but that doesn’t mean it was easy to leave Kent State.

Murphy, Senderoff, Christian and Ford started together as a staff in 2002. The four were a young, energetic bunch who enjoyed their time together.

Ford said he will miss the daily two-on-two staff games they used to play.

‘He could never defend my jump shot,’ Ford joked. ‘When Murph would pull off a nice move, he would call it his ‘Pearl Washington.’ If there are any charity games at Syracuse, don’t let him play.’

‘We used to enjoy that part – being cohesive,’ Murphy said. ‘Whatever team I was on, we mainly won.’

At Syracuse, Murphy will take over Weaver’s responsibilities of coaching forwards, and he will be counted on to tap into Detroit-area recruits. But judging from his track record, he should do just fine.

‘Murph is probably as good as anybody at becoming close with the players,’ Ford said. ‘He is really in tune with what people need. He can pump a guy up, chew a guy up and then the first second off the court, he can be their best friend.’

‘He’s a workaholic,’ SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. ‘The guys love him so far.’

Walk-on tryouts will be held Saturday, Oct. 16, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Manley Field House. Any student with a valid SUID, sneakers and shorts can show up. … Only 27 more days until SU’s first exhibition game against Le Moyne.

Published on October 5, 2004 at 12:00 pm