In Nov. 2021 the Cabrini men’s basketball staff came together and made the decision to promote Kevin Murray, former assistant coach, to associate head coach. Tim McDonald, head coach of the men’s basketball team, had much to say in favor of Murray.
“Ever since his hiring in the 2019-20 season, he has quickly become my right hand man, he is involved in everything that we do and I involve him in the decision making in the program and I just thought it was the right time for his professional development,” McDonald said.
McDonald talked about relating to Murray in the aspect of their knowledge of basketball.
“We were both high school coaches prior to getting involved with coaching at the college level,” McDonald said.
McDonald seemed to mesh very well with Murray’s characteristics from the very beginning.
“We have to make sure they are a good recruiter first and foremost and with Kevin we saw that,” McDonald said.
Murray, according to McDonald, has also played a big part in the academic side of things with the athletes on the team as well.
“I think it helps me more than the players to keep everyone in check and to hold everyone accountable,” McDonald said.”Hiring him added an extra layer of support not only for the coaching staff, but for the players as well. Having someone you can go to and having someone you can trust is a huge characteristic I look for.”
It is clear that Murray is nothing short of prepared for the intensity that the collegiate level brings.
“I was a high school coach in Delaware for over nine years and in addition to that I coached AAU travel basketball for over 13 years at a high level,” Murray said. “The difference between college and high school is coaching these players and recognizing my duty as a college head coach on a day-to-day basis.”
Murray’s unique style of coaching always brought the high level of intensity and prepared his players to compete at a college level.
“I ran our program like a college program, from the duty of the coaches and the players to the involvement of what the parents were actually doing,” Murray said.
Murray had close ties to a lot of the players on the team even before his promotion.
“A lot of the players on the team actually played for me from when I coached AAU travel basketball,” Murray said.
The relationship and familiarity between Coach Murray and Coach McDonald, along with other pieces of Cabrini’s current men’s basketball staff, goes back further than Murray’s time here at Cabrini.
“I actually had met Coach McDonald and Coach Bill Wiley several years before even actually considering coming to Cabrini,” Murray said. “My responsibilities have changed from focusing not just on the coaching aspect, but also how the program is run on a day-to-day basis. I will now be helping out with fundraising for the team as well as running clinics.”
There seems to be a very bright future ahead for Murray and his time here at Cabrini.
“Very few people are familiar with the term associate head coach so basically what I tell them is that you are a head coach in training,” Murray said.
