FORT MYERS, Fla.-After leading the Florida SouthWestern Men's Basketball program for the past six seasons, Eric Murphy has stepped down as the Bucs Head Coach to take an Assistant position at the NCAA Division I level with Western Kentucky University.
Murphy led the Bucs to a 143-34 record the past six seasons and a 61-15 mark across three different conference changes. Under Murphy's guidance, FSW won back to back Conference Championships in 2018-19 and 2019-20 for which he was named the Suncoast Conference Coach of the Year. Murphy led FSW to a pair of NJCAA National Tournament appearances, finishing 5th in 2019 before drawing the #6 seed at the 2020 tournament prior to it's cancellation due to Covid-19. Murphy's Bucs teams were a Division I factory, producing 34 players that graduated and moved on from FSW to play at the next level including Keon Ellis who after two seasons with the Bucs, signed with and played at Alabama for two years before becoming the first Buccaneer in program history to play in the NBA where he started 21 games for the Sacramento Kings this season including the final 13 of the season and their two NBA Playoff games against Golden State and New Orleans.
"Serving as FSW's Head Men's Basketball Coach for the past six seasons has been one of the greatest joys of my career" Murphy said. "This opportunity has allowed me to further enhance my leadership and coaching skills and grow immensely in my professional career. I want to personally thank President Allbritten and AD George Sanders, for believing in me and trusting me to lead this program to continue in its success. In addition, I would like to thank the support staff, coaching staff, and former Head Coach, Mary Richter, for their continuous support and encouragement these past eight seasons. Most importantly, I want to thank my family; my wife and two children for their overwhelming support of my career. Last but not least, I want to thank all the players that I have coached over the past eight seasons. I have been fortunate to coach some really good players. I couldn't be more proud of our former players who have gone on to represent FSW at both the collegiate and professional level. I look forward to watching the current, incoming, and future athletes at FSW. I am confident we will continue to see Men's Basketball at FSW compete at the highest level of the NJCAA. Go Bucs!"
At Western Kentucky, Murphy will work with former Indian Hills Head Coach Hank Plona who took over the first seat on the bench for the Hilltoppers earlier this month. Western Kentucky was 22-12 overall a season ago, winning the Conference USA Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in program history.
Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions for FSW Director of Athletics George Sanders. "This is a bittersweet moment for me and the program" Sanders said. "I am proud of and happy for Eric to get this opportunity to advance his career, but am going to miss him here at FSW. He has been asset to our program since its inception in 2016, starting as an assistant and then moving into the Head Coaching role when Marty Richter was able to move on in a similar fashion. He has won games, moved students towards graduation, and helped numerous young men fulfill their goals of being Division I athletes. He will always be a Buccaneer and I know he will continue to promote our program in the future."