Coaching is the ultimate rat-race, especially in basketball. Anyone who spends a significant amount of time within the landscape will eventually come to the same conclusion. Individuals can spend countless years simply attempting to crack into the industry with no avail. However, there are enough instances of positivity to still motivate young coaches to try and make it across the long-term future. It’s definitely a process, but the first step of that process finally paid dividends for Paul Murray—the new head coach of Henderson Collegiate.
In order to form an opinion either way, we must first look at Murray and his path in getting to this point. Well, like most young coaches, nothing has been handed to him. Murray has patiently waited while expanding his coaching repertoire and overall knowledge for the game. Folks will likely remember him as an assistant coach to Ryan Bernardi at The Burlington School—not realizing that he’s been with Bernardi since the absolute beginning. Others have come and gone, but there are plenty of reasons as to why Murray has been a constant throughout the years.
Although Bernardi would become a close confidant for the 26-year-old, it was his father who piqued Murray’s interest in basketball. He says, “My father played at UCLA after John Wooden’s tenure. He never put any pressure on me, but I always wanted to be like him. He shaped my knowledge more than anyone else in the basketball world. It wasn’t one of these demanding relationships where he pushed me or anything. I asked him questions and wanted to know everything he had to offer.”
Then, during his time as a member of Elon’s basketball team, Murray met a younger, like-minded team manager. The two would become close friends, talking daily, growing and learning the game together. Months later, the two would end up coaching a middle-school team. While Murray did need the hours for school, Bernardi had no issue convincing him to come back the following summer after reaching his initial quota.
Accepting the lead position for the Pride will certainly come with big shoes to fill, as George Marshall (the first and only coach in their history) basically built them from ground up over the last decade or so. That being said, Murray is more than equipped for the challenge. From coaching seventh-graders to harnessing the top talent in the state, he’s definitely gotten prepared throughout the process.
When asked about his decision to pursue this specific job, Murray stated, “I always wanted to do public school basketball. Private is fun and talented, but bringing something new to an entire county is a big deal for me. I’ve always believed in pushing to see how big of a stage you can get on.” His mantra for this team' He says, “Have a lot of fun winning a lot of games. Win every day. Accolades and trophies will take care of themselves.”
He also details some of his on-court vision, declaring, “My big thing is I’m trying to play the fastest tempo in the country. Ideally, we will score over 120 points per game. That’s how I’d like to do it. My goals would be to lead the state in scoring and steals. I believe basketball is as much entertainment as anything; I want to sell out games going forward. I think it’s the right way to play. We want to play fast. We are pressing, make or miss. We will give up points, but that’s part of it. Extremely fast tempo. You have to do something a little differently from the masses. My goal with our staff is to gain our team twenty points per game, or five per quarter (closing margins on teams, etc.) through our presence on the sideline.
Between his time as a player, assistant coach, and student of the game, Murray has earned this opportunity. There’s truly no way to predict how they’ll fare right away, but folks should still be very excited about everything he’s bringing to Henderson Collegiate. Murray clearly has the vision, knowledge, and motivation to do something special, but only time will tell.