Earlier this week, Eastern Michigan basketball introduced its new head coach: Rob Murphy, a former Syracuse assistant. He has also coached at Kent State, Detroit Crockett and Detroit Central. He went to Detroit Mumford for high school and Central State (Ohio) for college.
↵Murphy described this position as his "dream job" and made it clear the program's goal is to make the NCAA tournament.
↵↵↵"I won't sleep until we make the postseason tournament," said Murphy, who is so respected that former Central standout and San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates showed up at the news conference, along with Derrick Coleman and Benny White, former Detroit Public School coach and scout for the Pistons.
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While support from non-EMU people speaks to how respected Murphy is, he wants to bring back former EMU players like Earl Boykins, Earle Higgins and Brian Tolbert to be common faces around the program. Support for the program is important to Murphy, who is looking to build something in Ypsilanti.