Written and Media by Christian Caldozo.
The anticipation for this year’s Men’s Basketball Team is very high. Having graduated nine seniors last year, one could only hope the team is still able to repeat their previous successes. So far looking into this year’s team, there are many new faces that most returners on campus will not recognize. Nine junior college transfers and 17 freshman makes it seem like GU will have a completely new team this year, but with such high recruit numbers, the coaches expect nothing but success this year. One player that is going to make a high impact in this year’s upcoming basketball season is Rakim Murphy.
Murphy is a junior college transfer from Reedley College, located in Reedley, California. He was born and raised in Fresno, California, which is located in central California. At Reedley, Murphy impacted the program tremendously, having averaged 16ppg, 4apg, and 3rpg as a sophomore. Murphy has several accolades to his name, and in high school, he was a two-time all-conference performer and a two-time team MVP. During his freshman year at Reedley, Murphy made the all-freshmen team, all-conference team, all-defensive team, and team player of the year. As a Sophomore, he was selected all-conference, and team player of the year. With these accolades, Murphy was a high priority recruit for the Greenville University Basketball Program.
When asked about his personality, Murphy described himself as a goofy individual that is very personable and approachable. He likes getting to know new people, especially this year because it is a new environment for him. Murphy first played basketball at the age of 11 and has continued to play the sport ever since. This year will be the first year that Murphy is very far away from home, but when asked about his feelings toward this he says, “It’s no big change to me, my junior college was only 30 minutes away from home, but I never went home. So being here is pretty much the same thing to me, but it is just a little… further away.” The surprising thing about this is that there are many athletes on campus from California, and a lot of them get homesick very quickly. Murphy is one of the very few Californians that makes the best out of a small town like Greenville.
When asked about his upcoming personal goals for the season, he says, “To win a championship, to be a better teammate, but most importantly to just win, I just want to win.” Having seen the previous team’s accomplishments in the SLIAC, Murphy wants to play a part in the success that the previous basketball teams have been accomplishing. This pre-season the whole team has been working really hard to prepare for the upcoming season. Murphy is also one of those players who has an incredible work ethic that lines up with great athleticism. Murphy will immediately make an impact as soon as he steps on the court.
If you see Rakim Murphy on campus, do not be afraid to say hi to him because he is always willing to meet new people!
Check out the full interview with Rakim Murphy below!
