Sept. 8, 1999
ATLANTA, Ga. – University of Notre Dame sophomore forward Troy Murphy has been named to the “Best of the Rest” list as the Atlanta Tipoff Club has announced its preseason candidates for the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award.
The Tipoff Club announced the top ten vote getters in its preseason vote by its board of selectors and 20 other players, including Murphy, were listed in the “Best of the Rest Category.”
Among the top ten players were BIG EAST Conference performers Erick Barkley of St. John’s and Khalid El-Amin of Connecticut. BIG EAST players in the “Best of the Rest” category were Kevin Freeman of Connecticut, Johnny Hemsley of Miami and Murphy.
Murphy was the 1999 BIG EAST rookie of the year following the 1998-99 season and led the Irish in scoring and rebounding at 19.2 points per game and 9.9 rebounds. Murphy scored 519 points in his rookie year to set the Irish freshmen record, previously held by Adrian Dantley with 511 in 1973-74.
Murphy was named the BIG EAST rookie of the week eight times in his freshman season – the second-highest mark in league history. He was the first freshman in BIG EAST history to lead the league in rebounding with 10.3 boards in conference play.
Murphy was invited to the trials for the 1999 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team, but was forced to withdraw from the team when he underwent hernia surgery in July. Murphy has completely recovered from that procedure.