Tom Murphy, the man responsible for head coach Bill Coen’s development as both a player and a coach, now works alongside his former prote´ge´ and enters his 19th season with the Huskies in 2024-25. Murphy is in his 15th season as coordinator of basketball advancement after previously serving as associate head coach for four seasons.
With 36 years of head coaching experience, he is an invaluable resource for the Huskies basketball program. Murphy keeps in constant contact with a wealth of industry contacts, Huskies supporters and alumni, aiding the program’s development.
The New York basketball coaching legend spent 34 seasons as the head coach at Hamilton College, where Coen was one of his many outstanding recruits. Murphy also gave Coen his first coaching job in college basketball, when Coen worked as an assistant under him from 1987-89.
During Murphy’s illustrious coaching career at Hamilton, he posted a 602-263 record, leading the Continentals to 30 postseason berths and 16 seasons of 20 or more wins. He has been inducted into the New York, Utica and SUNY halls of fame and was named the March of Dimes Coach of the Year in 1999. He is also a five-time New York State Coach of the Year, a three-time District Coach of the Year and was named the National Coach of the Year in 1979. Throughout his career, Murphy has coached 20 All-Americans and a pair of National Players of the Year. Murphy was recently honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) with the Outstanding Service Award for his efforts at Hamilton. In 2006, he was given the ECAC’s James Lynch Distinguished Achievement Award.
Murphy left Hamilton in 2004 and brought his coaching success to SUNY Institute of Technology. He served as the associate head coach for one season before being named the school’s head coach in 2005.
Murphy’s legacy goes far beyond basketball in the state of New York. He began his career working as a high school physical education teacher and athletics director. He coached baseball, football and basketball at Colton-Pierrepont Central and Union Academy. Murphy and his Union Academy squad posted a record 104 consecutive victories and produced four sectional championships. In addition, Murphy also served as the school’s athletics director for 23 years. He was also a noted fundraiser and was particularly successful in his involvement with Coaches vs. Cancer and even created a booster club for Hamilton’s athletics programs.
Murphy is an active member of the NABC and has sat on many NCAA and ECAC basketball committees. He graduated from Springfield College in 1960 and received his master’s of education from Springfield the following year.
