(Pictured: Left to Right, Alex Murphy has emerged as one of the top players in the province. This past summer he helped refine his skills competing on the U-17 provincial team.)
Player Spotlight: Alex Murphy
For those of you that haven’t seen this star studded cast of players from St. Georges, Murphy is one of the key members of this highly talented squad who look to make a run at the AAA provincial championship come March. Alex Murphy is the unquestionable floor leader for the St. Georges Saints. Now all the awards and accomplishments are starting to pile up for this duo sport athlete who recently committed to the #1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds for the 2006/07 season. We are witnessing the evolution of a player who has a chance to be special. The decision is up to him.
This past summer Alex worked on refining his skills while he competed on the U-17 provincial team that finished 4th at Nationals. Playing on a team whose roster was filled with BC’s best Alex emerged as the quite leader being named the captain for team BC. Those leadership qualities were developed from two of BC’s top Coaches in Scott Allen and Rich Goulet. “Playing on the U-17 team was a great experience for me. Coach Allen taught me many valuable basketball skills while Coach Goulet helped to develop my mental preparation and leadership qualities.” These leadership qualities that are beginning to emerge from Murphy are one of the main reasons that the Saints have been so successful thus far this season.
The 2005/06 Saints roster is made up predominately of seniors who competed last year at the Provincials. “Playing in the Agrodome last year was an extremely valuable experience for our guys” says St. Georges Assistant Coach Jordan Mason. “Having a team made up predominately of 11th graders playing in that environment has helped prepare our team this year. They now know what to expect and how difficult it is to get there.” The rest of the team is comprised of rising Sr.’s who won the junior provincials last season. Also, traveling to prestigious tournaments such as the Silver Fox in Toronto and the Western Canada Tournament in Kelowna has helped the team form that certain chemistry on the court and help prepare the Saints for their quest for a championship.
Murphy’s outstanding play this season has coaches across the country talking about this kid’s talent. UBC Head Coach Kevin Hanson noticed right away after watching Alex play early on in the season that he loves the background that Murphy brings to the position. “He was a quarterback in football and a striker in soccer," says UBC Head Coach Kevin Hanson. “That has given him a huge amount of transfer for passing into space." UBC recently inked Alex Murphy, the recipient of a 4yr scholarship he received from the HSBC tournament earlier on in the season. St. Georges Head Coach Brian Lee raves about his young Point Guards capabilities. “Alex is a 2nd year captain for our varsity program who display tremendous potential as a leader. He has innate court vision and excels in the transition game. He is also an excellent perimeter shooter off of the dribble but what I think separates Alex from the other top guards in BC is he is a tenacious on-the-ball defender who takes pride in controlling his offensive check.”
This season the Saints only have one thing in mind and that’s to bring the school its 1st AAA Championship. Leading the way is Murphy who teams up with Bol Kong to form the top 1-2 punch in the province. “Whenever I make eye contact with him during the game I know we're going to do something special” says the savvy point guard Murphy. “Living with Bol and playing so much ball together we just develop those intangibles that you can’t teach.” This deadly tandem has helped guide the Saints to a 24-4 overall record and the number 3 seed going into the AAA Provincials at the Agrodome, March 7-11th.
DRIVE would like to wish Alex Murphy and his St. George’s teammates the best of luck the rest of the season.
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