| Intro | American basketball player |
| A.K.A. | Alex James Murphy |
| Is |
Athlete Basketball player |
| From |
Finland United States of America |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 3 June 1993, Wakefield |
| Age: | 27 years |
Alex James Murphy (born June 3, 1993) is an American college basketball player who currently plays for Northeastern University. He had previously played for Duke University and University of Florida. Murphy was one of the top-rated college basketball recruits in the class of 2011. He is the son of former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Jay Murphy, and the brother of former NBA forward Erik Murphy. His mother, Paivi, is from Finland and played for the Finnish national team between 1988 and 1994.
High school career
Murphy was ranked as the No. 41 player in the ESPNU 100, the No. 45 player by Rivals.com, and the No. 41 player by Scout.com. He attended the St. Mark’s School in Massachusetts, where he played basketball alongside 2012 elite recruits Kaleb Tarczewski and Nik Stauskas. Murphy led St. Mark’s School to a 27–3 record as a junior, but the team fell short of a New England championship, losing to Tilton School who boasted Nerlens Noel, Georges Niang and Wayne Seldon. Murphy was also named NEPSAC ISL Player of the Year in 2011. In April 2011, he decided to join the class of 2011 and attend Duke University in the fall of that year. Murphy left St. Mark’s School and attended South Kingstown High School for the remaining months in order to graduate and enroll at Duke that summer.
AAU
Murphy played for the elite New England Playaz organization, alongside his high school teammate, elite 2012 recruit, Kaleb Tarczewski as well as 2011 elite point guard recruit, Naadir Tharpe.
College recruitment
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alex Murphy SF |
Southborough, Massachusetts | St. Mark’s School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Feb 7, 2011 | |
| Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 | ||||||
Murphy committed to play basketball at Duke on February 7, 2011. Recruiting columnists speculated that he would commit to the University of Florida because his older brother, Erik Murphy, was a four-year player for coach Billy Donovan at Florida. Murphy chose Duke over Florida, Arizona, Boston College, North Carolina, Villanova and West Virginia.
Reclassification
On April 19, 2011 Murphy announced that he would be graduating a year early from St. Mark’s School and would enroll at Duke University a year earlier than expected. Having met all academic requirements necessary to do this, Murphy was able to enroll at Duke in the summer of 2011, and was the fifth member of Duke’s 2011 recruiting class.
Murphy on why he reclassified: “It was a very difficult decision, but at the end of the day, I thought this was the best thing for my future,” Murphy said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Duke
Redshirt
In December 2011, Murphy decided to redshirt his freshman season with fellow recruit Marshall Plumlee. Murphy said, “It’s still to be determined, but a redshirt year is most likely what I’m going to do. That’s the plan right now.” after No. 5 Duke beat Washington, 86–80, Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
2012–2013
In 2012–13, Murphy played 31 games, averaging 2.1ppg and 1.0rpg.
In 2013–14, Murphy played 5 games for Duke before declaring his desire to transfer to Florida on December 18, 2013.
College stats
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | Duke | 31 | 0 | 6.3 | .491 | .208 | .417 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| 2013–14 | Duke | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2014–15 | Florida | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Source:
International
Murphy played for the Finnish U20 national team at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Division B in 2012.