Eastern Michigan men’s basketball head coach Rob Murphy, who just started his ninth season with the Eagles, released his first book over the summer. The book, “DEEP” is Murphy’s lifelong story through his eyes. Murphy discusses growing up in Detroit, getting his “dream job” at Syracuse University, learning life lessons through basketball and much more.
“It was a long process. It took me four and a half years. It’s an autobiography from the time I was born to about seven or eight months ago,” Murphy said. “It’s very detailed, uncut and raw. It talks about challenges that I was faced with as a young man and stuff that I was able to overcome through athletics and coaching.”
Murphy was born Sept. 19, 1973 in Detroit. From a young age, he had a love for sports and he played basketball through college. Murphy attended Central State University from 1992-1996 and was named a two-time captain. He would get his first coaching position that same year as he became an associate at Detroit Central High School.
After being an assistant coach with Kent State for two years, Murphy was hired by Jim Boeheim to become an assistant coach at one of the top schools in the nation: Syracuse University. He was with Syracuse from 2004-2011, until taking the job at Eastern Michigan, where he has been ever since.
“I always had a story and my family and friends always told me I should share my story since I was at Syracuse,” Murphy said. “When I became the head coach here, I started my foundation giving back to the community. I wanted to give the kids in my foundation some hope and vision. Then the book came after that.”
Murphy also discussed the logistics of writing his first book: “In season, I didn’t work on it at all. I just didn’t have the time. During the offseason, I would write stuff down here or there, maybe on a recruiting trip. Before you know it, you have a lot on paper. It was long and tedious but I enjoyed it. The feedback has been phenomenal.”
Murphy explained that he wants people to be inspired by his story because there are a lot of young people who are hesitant to chase their dreams because of where they come from. Murphy endured a tough childhood, was nearly killed and still earned a head coaching position at a D-1 basketball program.
“When you’re going through struggle, you suppress a lot of information, then once you get to where you want you look back and you might be embarrassed or ashamed of your past,” Murphy said. “And I went through that. You have to embrace where you’re from and the challenges you faced. You come from where you come and that’s your story.”
“DEEP” is available at the Eastern Michigan University Bookstore in the Student Center and the team shop at the Convocation Center. You can also order the book online at robmurphyfoundation.org. Murphy’s team is currently 2-0 as they prepare for their next matchup versus Michigan-Dearborn on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Convocation Center.
