Olivet Nazarene senior and Columbus East graduate Daniel Murphy drives to the basket Jan. 25 against Judson.
Submitted photo
It took lots of patience for Daniel Murphy to start seeing the court in his senior year at Olivet Nazarene.
Murphy, a senior from Columbus East, was starting for the Tigers this year, and finished wrapping up his collegiate career last month.
“It was pretty much a typical senior year thing for me. It’s the last time you get to step on the court, and then pretty much you’re done. I just had to give it all I’ve got,” Murphy said. “I spent time in the summer and offseason preparing for that. The big thing I wanted to do was leaving a lasting impact on the underclassmen coming in. Just trying to set a standard and set an impression for those guys so whenever I do leave, our team’s culture is passed along and set the right example as far as going into my last year.”
Murphy started his freshman year playing on the Olivet’s JV team. While he played on the JV, it counted as one of his years of eligibility. He started getting some time for varsity off the bench as sophomore, appearing in 14 games. It increased to 27 games as a junior off the bench, until becoming a full-time starter his senior year.
Olivet Nazarene senior and Columbus East graduate Daniel Murphy receives the pass in a game for the Tigers this season.
Submitted photo
For his senior year, Murphy averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 30 games.
Murphy admitted it was a big learning curve for him each year. One of the biggest things Murphy did between his freshman and sophomore years was put on about 30 pounds of weight to get stronger. He said that helped him out a lot.
“I think every year, I got to add something more. Even the first year I got there was more of watching than playing, sort of grasping what I needed to do to get better. Over the years, it was more of a year-by-year figuring out what I needed to add. It was getting faster, getting stronger,” Murphy said. “With college basketball, it makes it super obvious what your weaknesses are and what you’ve got to improve on. What I learned was just pretty much you get to point out your weaknesses, and you get to develop on it. The coaches, even in the games, it’s so obvious what you have to improve on for yourself and eventually work it out.”
Murphy is majoring in physical education and is set to graduate in May. He does student teaching during the day.
As for basketball, Murphy admits it would be hard to step away from it and would like to still be involved in some way. He will look for a PE job somewhere and decide his future with basketball following graduation.
Daniel Murphy
Murphy has enjoyed his four-year journey with the Tigers.
“I went through the whole system. I went through every step. I went from JV team, starting JV team, then I came off the bench my junior year, and I started my senior year,” he said. “I really loved it because I feel like it shows growth and making forward progress. I wouldn’t have asked for it any other way because I know everyone wants to start as a freshman or sophomore coming in. It is really a testament to the hard work you put in and us getting better each year. Seeing myself move up, it was neat to see.”
