 Troy Murphy shows his trademark form against Xavier's Reggie Butler in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
(Elsa/Getty)
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By Noam Kupchan | March 28, 2007
In 1998, Troy Murphy chose to attend Notre Dame for one reason, and one reason only. He wanted to lead the Fighting Irish back to the NCAA tournament.
“Being recruited, they kind of sold that to you," Murphy said, "that you would be on the team that would end the drought of being in the NCAA tournament, and help bring Notre Dame basketball back to the NCAAs."
Murphy excelled as a freshman at Notre Dame, averaging 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds and seemed to be taking the team in the right direction. However, despite the all-star play they received from Murphy, the Irish went on to finish the year 14-16.
As disappointing as the '98-'99 season was for the Irish, the team’s play left fans with high hopes for the following year.
Notre Dame came back stronger in 2000 to finish the regular season at 17-15, a record sill not quite deserving of an NCAA tournament berth. However, there was still reason to celebrate as the Irish had qualified for postseason play in the National Invitation Tournament.
With one superb performance after the other, Murphy carried Notre Dame all the way to the NIT championship game, where the Irish were met by Josh Howard and the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. In what was a highly competitive game, Murphy’s 20 points and six rebounds were not enough, as the Irish were defeated 71-61 at Madison Square Garden.
Murphy returned to Notre Dame for his junior year and led his team to a 19-9 record during the regular season, as well as a No. 3 seed in the 2001 NCAA tournament – the Irish’s first NCAA tournament berth since 1990.
“It was a lot of fun, the team hadn’t been there in a while,” Murphy said. “It was a goal of ours, we felt we got snubbed the year before, and so we were happy to be there.”
Notre Dame’s stay in the tournament didn’t last as long as the team would have hoped. After defeating 11th seeded Xavier 83-71 in the first round behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Murphy, the Fighting Irish fell to Ole Miss 59-56 in a second round nail-biter in what proved to be the final game of his college career.
The following year, Murphy decided to forego his senior season at Notre Dame and head to the NBA. He was selected 14th by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the draft.
