A perfect Storm
When Storm Murphy was a seventh grader, his family traveled to Hilton Head, S.C., for spring break.
On the way, the Murphy’s stopped off at the University of North Carolina and later Duke. And young Storm — all 5-feet-nothing and 100 pounds of him — delivered this message.
“I told my Mom and Dad I was going to play here one day,” Murphy said.
That didn't happen.
But Murphy might have done something even more impressive last weekend.
Murphy, one of the finest basketball players in Middleton history and now a senior guard at Virginia Tech, helped lead the Hokies past both of those basketball powers in a 24-hour window.
During the ACC Tournament held in New York, Murphy and the Hokies defeated North Carolina, 72-59, in the semifinals last Friday. One night later, Virginia Tech hammered Duke, 82-67, to win the conference championship and deny Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski a league title in his final season.
Those two monumental wins capped an insane weekend for Virginia Tech and Murphy.
The Hokies (23-12) entered the ACC Tournament needing to make a run to reach the NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech proceeded to win four games in four days, and as the No. 7 seed, became the lowest seed in ACC history to win the conference tournament.
“It was maybe the best week of my life,” Murphy said during an interview with the Times-Tribune on Monday. “You can’t really write it better, to go up there and to go 4-0 and beat UNC and Duke to win it all. It was pretty fun for sure. It’s pretty fun to say we’re forever ACC champs.”
Murphy’s fun isn't over yet.
Virginia Tech received the No. 11 seed in the NCAA’s East Region and will face sixth-seeded Texas in a first-round game Friday at 3:30 p.m. in Milwaukee. If the Hokies win Friday, they’ll meet either third-seeded Purdue or 14th-seeded Yale Sunday in Milwaukee in the Round of 32.
Instead of friends and family traveling 800 miles to watch Murphy play for the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va., their journey will be just 80 miles down I-94 this weekend.
“My phone’s been going crazy,” Murphy said. “I’ve been trying to sort out and prioritize what to do with tickets.
“I can't wait to see friends and family there. It will be really, really special, kind of a Homecoming game for me.”
Cinderella story
The fact Murphy is part of the NCAA tournament, part of this Cinderella Virginia Tech team is par for the course. That’s because Murphy himself remains one of the most amazing basketball stories to ever come out of Middleton.
Murphy, who stands 6-feet tall today and weighs 185 pounds, was always undersized. And despite astonishing ball skills, terrific quickness and a work ethic second-to-none, he flew under the radar much of his time at MHS.
Murphy, a 2017 Middleton High School graduate, led the Cardinals to a share of the Big Eight Conference title in 2016. That year he was named first-team all-conference after finishing sixth in the league in scoring (17.9) while averaging 4.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 3.3 rebounds.
Murphy was a first-team all-conference player again as a senior when he finished third in the league in scoring (19.9), and averaged 4.8 assists and 2.0 steals.
“I’ve only had one other player with the same effervescent, unabashed love of the game, and that was (current Marquette coach) Shaka Smart,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of Murphy. “Practice was his game day and he always brought a consistent high level of energy and enthusiasm with him every day.”
Still, high level colleges weren’t tripping over themselves to sign a smallish point guard from County. So in between his junior and senior seasons, Murphy selected Division 1 Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. — the first school to offer him a scholarship.
“Not everything was perfect,” Murphy said. “I remember switching AAU teams, trying to find opportunities.
“I remember stressing as a junior or senior in high school, wondering if I’d ever be able to play Division 1 basketball. I just kept grinding and working and believing it was possible.”
Murphy showed it was more than possible during his time at Wofford.
He won a starting job as a freshman, then helped the Terriers reach the NCAA Tournament — and win a game — as a sophomore. As a senior last season, Murphy was named first-team All-Southern Conference after averaging 17.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds.
Murphy was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and entered the transfer portal.
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young — who was Murphy’s coach for two seasons at Wofford — immediately reached out to show interest. Murphy also strongly considered coming home and playing for the University of Wisconsin.
“I thought about Wisconsin. They were in the mix,” said Murphy, who majored in Finance and is working towards a Master’s degree in leadership. “That was kind of the toss-up. Go back home and play for Wisconsin or go and reunite with my people who I know at Virginia Tech.
“But when coach Young reached out, it was almost a no-brainer. Just go with what I know. The familiarity over any other school, that was a big pull.”
Nothing’s ever easy
The Hokies were 15-7 in last year’s shortened season, reached the NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round. And Young saw Murphy as a player that could help Virginia Tech have a big 2021-22 season.
“He affects the energy of practice. He affects the winning culture. He’s been a part of a lot of winning,” Young said of Murphy during ACC media days last fall. “I so thoroughly enjoyed coaching him for his first two years. He’s a star. He’ll look like your paper boy, but I’ll tell you what, he’s mean as a snake.”
For half of the season, though, Virginia Tech was one of the most disappointing teams in the country.
On Jan. 26, the Hokies were just 10-10 overall and 2-7 in the ACC. And what began as a year filled with promise was heading south in a hurry.
“That was not a place we wanted to be in or see ourselves in,” Murphy said. “We never expected to be 2-7 or 10-10. It wasn’t fun, but I think it’s really cool how our coaching staff and coach Young and the players really came together and just continued to say, ‘This thing is going to click. This thing is going to turn.’
“We knew we had the right people in this locker room and we have amazing basketball players and I thought when it does click, it’s going to be really special. And that’s exactly what happened.”
And the last six weeks have been incredibly special.
The Hokies won six in a row and nine of 11 to close the regular season. Still, most prognosticators felt they needed two or three wins at last weekend’s conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament.
That seemed unlikely when Clemson led the Hokies, 75-73, with 6.7 seconds left in overtime during an ACC play-in game on March 9. But Tech’s Darius Maddox took the ball the length of the court and drilled a 3-pointer as time expired giving the Hokies a 76-75 win and a trip to the ACC quarterfinals.
Afterwards, Young said the Hokies were “luckier than hell.”
Perhaps. But luck had no part in the rest of their weekend.
Virginia Tech rolled past Notre Dame, 87-80 in the quarterfinals. The Hokies then posted double digit wins over blue bloods North Carolina and Duke to win the title.
Murphy, who averages 8.1 points and 2.8 assists per game, had a huge hand in Tech’s run to the title. Murphy averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 assists in the four games as the Hokies continued to play like the team many believed they could be this winter.
“I knew how good these guys were and how good we could be this year,” Murphy said. “It’s taken a little while. It took us the year to get here and to put it all together, but it was definitely a dream and part of the plan all along was to win a championship.”
One last dance
Murphy doesn’t know what lies ahead.
He says he’d like to keep playing basketball, and seems likely to have some opportunities to play overseas.
Murphy would also like to pursue coaching opportunities, explore a career in broadcasting or put his Finance degree to use.
“Some days I’m like, ‘I could never stop playing basketball.’ I’ll play ‘til my legs fall off,” Murphy said. “Others I’m not totally sure.”
What he does know is this trip to the NCAA Tournament — with this team and this group playing just a stone’s throw away from Middleton — will be special.
“I appreciate this team and what kind of guys I’m playing with,” Murphy said. “They’re amazing. Amazing humans, great people, all social and vocal and like to have fun and make the game of basketball fun. So, it makes it easy for all of us.”
Of course, nothing’s ever been easy for Murphy.
Not when he was an undersized middle schooler. Not when AAU programs doubted him. And not when major colleges largely ignored him.
But that seventh grader who told his parents — Mike and Heidi — he’d be playing at Duke or North Carolina never doubted himself. And while Murphy never became a Blue Devil or a Tar Heel, being a Hokie has been even better.
And now, Murphy hopes to make his final run as a collegian his most memorable yet.
“I think since I was in middle school I would just tell myself, tell my parents, tell my grandparents that I was going to play here or I was going to play there,” Murphy said. “I had big dreams and big goals and it just led me to work really hard and push myself every day.
“It’s definitely been a fun journey, and yes, I always thought I could do it and be somewhere like this one day. I really believed in myself and understood, through trial and error what it takes to make it and to succeed in the game of basketball.”
Mission accomplished.
