According to simultaneous reports from multiple national reporters, UConn assistant coach Luke Murray has agreed to become the next Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Boston College.
UConn is 146-37 since Murray was hired in the summer of 2021, with two National Championships, 2 Big East titles, and this season’s Sweet 16 appearance. Luke came to the Huskies after he was let go from Chris Mack’s staff at Louisville. Murray was with Mack first as an assistant at Xavier, and then followed him to the Cardinals. Before his sojourn on Mack’s staffs, Murray coached alongside Dan Hurley at Rhode Island as an assistant for several seasons. Murray also worked with Dan at Wagner back in 2010-11, and his first job in college basketball was the director of operations for Tom Moore at Quinnipiac in 2007.
Luke was instrumental in the offensive renaissance that occured at UConn in the summer of 2022. It’s been well-documented that Hurley and Murray devised the new scheme together. In Luke’s first season at UConn, the Huskies had a top 25 KenPom offense for the first time in 11 years, since Kemba Walker was at PG. The next 2 seasons, once the new offense was fully installed, UConn ranked 3rd and 1st in the KenPom offensive rankings. Those are the only top 3 ranked offenses that UConn has had in the KenPom era (1997-present). Despite a disappointing season overall, UConn still ranked 15th in offense last year. This season, UConn’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating is actually higher than it was in 2023 when they finished 3rd, but the rest of the college basketball world has experienced an offensive explosion the last few seasons, and the Huskies only rank 30th relatively.
Luke is a strong recruiter, and he helped recruit high school players and transfers to UConn like Donovan Clingan, Braylon Mullins, Liam McNeeley, Cam Spencer, Eric Reibe, Jacob Furphy, and more. Luke was heavily involved with opponent scouting and gameplans, rotating in with the other assistant coaches on a game by game basis. Famously, he had the scout for the national title game against Purdue in 2024. UConn’s gameplan to let Edey beat them and limit everyone else was incredibly successful and showcased Luke’s strategy and tactics. Hurley often notes that Luke is heavily invested in studying analytics, and equally obsessed with European and obscure team basketball Xs and Os. Murray is known to be a great developer of talent and worked closely with developing UConn’s big men over the years, including All-Big East First Team players Adama Sanogo, Donovan Clingan, Tarris Reed Jr., and Alex Karaban.
Boston College announced the hire on X on Thursday evening.
Murray was quoted in a release:
"I am deeply honored and incredibly grateful to lead the Boston College Men's Basketball program," said Murray. "BC is a university with a prestigious academic reputation and a storied basketball tradition. Boston College alumni and fans will find our program defined by a standard of excellence, and our team will play an unselfish, tough, and highly competitive brand of basketball. I am excited to get to work to build this proud program. Go Eagles!"
