Luke Murray is finally the head coach of his own program.
After working under Dan Hurley at Wagner, Rhode Island and most recently, UConn, Murray is now the head coach at Boston College. For the past few years, both he and Kimani Young have been considered head coaching candidates.
“UConn changed my life,” Murray said in his introductory press conference. “Coach Hurley gave me my first chance to be an assistant basketball coach when I was 24 years old and probably totallyundeserving of the opportunity at the time… I hope I can do him proud here.”
Murray is known as one of the elite offensive minds in college basketball, regardless of position. He helped lead the Huskies to two national championships with the introduction of offensive sets and plays from overseas in Europe.
“It’s not like a replica necessarily,” Murray said to The Athletic’s CJ Moore in 2024. “It’s just piecing together what makes the most sense for the group that we have.”
In the years before Hurley brought Murray back — when Murray was at Louisville — UConn’s adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom ranked 85th, 64th and 27th. Since Murray’s return, those numbers improved to 22nd, third, first and 15th, highlighting his offensive impact.
Tom Moore, who now serves as the team’s general manager and was the head coach at Quinnipiac while Murray was the director of basketball operations, said a while back that Murray works with the team’s bigs. He is responsible for the development of Adama Sanogo, Donovan Clingan, Samson Johnson, Tarris Reed Jr. and, most recently, Eric Reibe.
Hurley was ecstatic to see one of his assistant coaches get such a great opportunity.
“Luke is like a brother. We’re both very similar,” Hurley said after Connecticut’s 69-63 loss to top-seeded Michigan in the national title game. “He’s worked with me at every place I’ve been. We’ve made each other better. We’ve got a deep friendship. Boston College is about to have a renaissance in basketball.”
For Boston College, the men’s basketball program has been forgettable for quite a while. The Eagles have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and have not won a conference championship since the 2005 Big East regular season title, coincidentally Boston College’s final season in the league.
Since Al Skinner’s firing after the 2009-10 season, the Eagles have not been able to land a coach who can take them back to their glory days. Steve Donahue was done after four seasons; Jim Christian only had one winning season in the seven years at the helm, and Earl Grant had a promising 2023-24 season with the first 20-win season since the 2010-11 season, but he has since seen massive declines in the past two seasons that led up to his firing.
“I think the first challenge is just that right now we’re not winning enough games,” Murray said. “I think that sort of bleeds into a perception that the people have of the program and where it stands within the ACC, where it stands nationally. And that’s the number one job; that’s my number one responsibility here is to change that.”
Murray has never been a head coach. But look at the success of Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), Mark Few (Gonzaga) or Jon Scheyer (Duke), just to name a few. Those three did not have head coaching experience when they took over these programs and look where they are now.
In this era of college basketball, Murray had to balance both jobs while the Huskies made a run to a third national championship game appearance in four years.
“It’s a lot,” Murray said to the New York Post’s Zach Braziller prior to the season’s end. “Obviously, I have my responsibilities here, and that sort of takes priority, making sure we’re prepared, and game planning for whoever the opponent might be. But at the same time, I have my responsibilities up there. With getting a chance to talk to the players with the portal opening up on Tuesday and hiring a coaching staff. There’s a lot going on. I’m lucky to have 24 hours in a day to figure it out.”
Murray had the scout for Arizona at the Final Four in Indianapolis, but that scout quickly went out the window as Michigan demolished the Wildcats in Saturday’s national semifinal.
There has already been some movement for Boston College, including players entering the transfer portal, but as of writing, there has not been anyone following Murray to Chestnut Hill.
Hurley, Moore and the Huskies’ program have not announced a replacement for Murray’s position.