New Michigan men’s basketball assistant coach Dylan Murphy is moving to Ann Arbor from Orlando after spending the last eight years in Florida. He spent the last three seasons as Osceola Magic head coach in the NBA G League, earning three consecutive Eastern Conference No. 1 playoff seeds, after serving as an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic for three seasons and as a basketball operations analyst for the two seasons prior to that.
What attracted Murphy to Michigan was the similarities to how
Michigan and NBA teams operate. He spoke with Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block podcast about his initial impressions and experiences thus far in Ann Arbor.
“Principles of play, I think are very similar here at Michigan and what (former head coach Dusty) May did and what (head coach Mike Boynton Jr.), very similar to the NBA stylistically,” Murphy said. “So in that sense, it’s made the transition a lot more comfortable for me and just excited to bring whatever I can to everybody.”
In Orlando, Murphy had no shortage or experience with former Wolverines. He coached or was an analyst for Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, Jett Howard, Caleb Houstan, Iggy Brazdeikis, Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske and DJ Wilson, who were either with the Orlando Magic or Osceola Magic.
Through his experience with a bunch of former Wolverines, Murphy heard nothing but great things about Michigan.
“Ultimately, the University of Michigan speaks for itself — the tradition, the success of the basketball program, coach Boynton, the players coming back and everyone I spoke to who has been at Michigan, which actually with the Orlando Magic where I came from, we have a bunch of players who played here, spoke so highly of this program and this university,” Murphy said. “When I did get the opportunity, it seemed like a great move.”
On top of a stellar impression of the program from working with former players, Murphy has immediately noticed how strong the culture is within the program.
“Better to be on the same page than the right page, so understanding what we are trying to do here at Michigan is the most important thing for me,” Murphy said. “There’s just a culture here that is very hard to describe. Connectedness, togetherness, a deep care about the work, a thoughtfulness about how things are organized. I think sometimes when you’re involved in that for a long time, it just feels like this is how it is and this is how it always is everywhere. But having been in a few places, it is not like this everywhere.”
Before working in Orlando, Murphy was a grad assistant at Ball State in 2018 and an Atlanta Hawks scout the two years before that. He was also an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for three seasons before Atlanta, including when the Mad Ants won the NBA G League championship after the 2013-14 season.
Despite the wealth of experience in the pros, Murphy doesn’t come from a basketball background. The New York City native went to Columbia after transferring from Emory and graduated in 2012. He didn’t play basketball and focused more on academics, as his parents were teachers.
As a sports media student, Murphy realized he wanted to go down the coaching route when he joined the Mad Ants. Through the past 13 seasons as a coach, Murphy has built a coaching philosophy built around development.
“I would say for the guys that really develop, it’s about highlighting your strengths more than it is about identifying your weaknesses,” Murphy said. “Obviously, you want to work on the weaker parts of your game, but the best players that I’ve been around, they’re always leveraging their strengths, and it’s always about what they’re good at and people having to respond to that versus the other way around of being pushed into your weaknesses.”
For Murphy at Michigan, it’s about blending his developmental philosophy with his wealth of NBA and NBA G League experience.
