Something happened to Trey Murphy down in Texas. He arrived at Rice University in summer 2018 as a 6-4, 165-pound shooting guard with a good shot and a suspect handle. Two years later, he was transferring to the University of Virginia as a 6-9, 205-pound combo forward with realistic NBA aspirations.

Not many players grow five inches in college, but when they do, it changes their fortunes dramatically.

Background

When Murphy was in high school in North Carolina, he was a good enough player to be evaluated by Tony Bennett and recruited for a time, but as a skinny 6-4 shooting guard, it was questionable whether he had the strength and handle to compete in the ACC. Trey ended up at Rice. Then a funny thing happened: he grew. By the time his freshman season at Rice began, he was listed at 6-7, 180.

Suddenly a forward with ballhandling skills, Trey had a good freshman year at Rice, hitting 42% of his three point shots and averaging 8 ppg in 20 minutes per contest. He became a starter as a sophomore, and after the season entered the transfer portal as a 6-9, 206-pound wing. All those Carolina schools might not have blown up his phone, but Tony Bennett did. Trey transferred from the academic powerhouse of Rice to the academic powerhouse of Virginia.

Strengths

Read Trey’s blog on the Rice University athletics official website and you will see two things instantly:

1) Why Trey will be successful; and

2) Why he and Virginia are a great fit for each other.

Trey has treymendous confidence in himself, and a dedication to a purpose. He sees beyond today toward a goal, and he will work his ass off for that goal whether other people believe he is capable of it or not. He played for college. Now he plays for the NBA. He works, he believes – and he listens. What he learned at Rice about managing academics will set him up for success at Virginia.

As a late grower both in high school and in college, Murphy has developed skills along the way that he carries with him now. While his handle might not have been what an ACC coach is looking for in a guard, it’s strong for a combo forward. Trey can put the ball on the deck with confidence and create for himself or a teammate. He has good quickness and great length.

Virginia’s freshmen unanimously agreed that Trey is the best dunker on the team. With Jay Huff on the team, that’s quite a testament. But Trey’s highlight film from Rice is full of monster dunks. He dunks in transition, driving to the hoop, on putbacks, on putbacks of his own miss, over people, around people, one-handed, two-handed – Trey will electrify crowds (if there are any crowds) and living rooms with his dunks.

He can not only dunk, but also shoot the three. Remember that confidence? Trey shot 5 threes a game as a freshman and 7 as a sophomore. After that 42% freshman campaign, he hit 37% as a sophomore. He has no hesitation to loft it from anywhere on the floor. They might be renaming Tyland Treyboro in a couple of years. His ability to get to the rack and dunk should buy him space to uncork that long jumper.

Height, length, hops, quicks, handle. Trey Murphy came to Virginia to follow De’Andre Hunter to the NBA, and he certainly has the tools to do so.

Weaknesses

Trey Murphy is 6-9, and 206 pounds. The most glaring weakness to his game right now is those skinny limbs. One reason he chose Virginia was the presence of legendary strength coach Mike Curtis. He planned to redshirt and put on some good weight for a year. With the NCAA declaring 2020-21 a free year eligibility-wise, and with Trey showing out in preseason practice in a wide-open wing position, it remains to be seen if that plan remains the same. But regardless, Trey needs heft and strength.

Defense is going to be a challenge as a new Wahoo. While he certainly has the attitude and the physical tools to be an exceptional defender in the long run, that takes time, and he will most likely struggle this first season, just like every other first-season Wahoo (whether redshirting first or not).

Expected Role

When Trey does take the floor for Virginia, whether this year or next, his obvious role is as an outside-in combo forward a la Hunter. While different from Dre, Trey brings the same pure wing forward game with the length and size to succeed as a power forward in the college game as well. He likely will train as a mover first then add blocker, although matching him up against a post player who has to deal with keeping track of him on the perimeter would produce exploitable situations.

Reasonable Expectations

The most reasonable expectation for Trey is that he sit out the season on the redshirt. That was the plan, nobody has said otherwise, and the smoke appears to have dissipated. As useful as he could be this year, and even though Coach Bennett said in an interview that redshirting makes little sense this year given the NCAA exception for the year, we’ve been given no information to make us think otherwise.

There is a bona fide reason to go forward with the redshirt. The physical development needs of a playing year are different than what is done in a redshirt year. In a redshirt year you can totally gear the body toward gaining mass. Diet, workout scheduling, workout plans, all can be focused on putting muscle on the player in a way you cannot do if he is playing. When a player is playing, he needs to be using his muscles, and allowing them to recover on a schedule that lets him be ready for the next game. Players will sometimes actually LOSE weight during a playing season.

So if Trey really wants to gain weight and get bigger and stronger, it does make sense to redshirt and devote everything to putting on mass.

Optimistic Expectations

But here’s the deal: UVA has a real need for Trey this year. He’s probably the most talented, dynamic wing on the team. My optimistic expectations for Trey this year, therefore, are that he start at the three and play 20-25 minutes per game, putting up numbers somewhere between his freshman and sophomore stat lines at Rice.

Final Analysis

Trey Murphy is going to be a star for Virginia, but probably not this year. Like he did with De’Andre Hunter, Tony is willing to defer the contribution of perhaps his most talented wing during a year where he could be big for the sake of better returns in the future. Maybe Trey plays and ends up the season at 200 pounds, comes into next year at 210; maybe he redshirts and comes into next year at 225 and is just that much better for the extra power. Whenever he does hit the floor, he has the physical and mental tools to electrify the game the way Hunter did. The best dunker on the team with a good outside shot and a lot of confidence, Trey Murphy is going to make some Carolina schools rue the day they ignored him.