Miami Hurricanes Basketball: Canes Take Team-First Mentality Into Promising Season

When looking at a team poised for success in college basketball nowadays, what do you usually find?

A hand-picked team of high school players just looking for a one-year steppingstone to the NBA? A squad of McDonald’s All-Americans concerned with their perception and ranking?

Well you wouldn’t find any of that with these Miami Hurricanes.

Stepping into the BankUnited Center for media day Tuesday afternoon, reporters were able to see the loose but focused atmosphere that surrounds this Miami team. Even with all the selfies and jokes thrown around, it was very clear the team isn’t just here to make an impact now, but an impact for this program going forward.

“We know we have a special squad,” redshirt senior Angel Rodriguez said. “It’s up to us to make sure we don’t waste this chance to elevate the program.”

Knowing the potential of what this team can accomplish not just for this year, but for this program’s foreseeable future, the players all stressed that success will come as long as everyone buys in to the team mentality.

“I think it all depends on how much we are willing to put aside our egos,” junior Davon Reed said when asked about how good this team can be. “It’s about how much we want to do for each other, how hard we want to work and just doing the little intangibles.”

When thinking of those little intangibles it’s evident many players on this team have them, but one name in particular kept coming up, Kamari Murphy.

The Oklahoma St. transfer who had to sit out last season has made a huge impact with his leadership and talent that has clearly rubbed off on his teammates.

“He’s going to bring change to this team,” senior Tonye Jekiri said. “He’s a great rebounder, great defender that you can use for almost every position and I’m excited to play with him this year. He’s a great guy I just love him.”

For the full hour speaking with the players, this was the consistent sentiment we heard. For veterans to rave about him just showed how much he will mean to the team this year.

“He’s going to do all the dirty things you might not want to do,” Reed said when asked about Murphy. “He’s going to play hard, rebound, push the ball up the court, go up and get us second chance opportunities and he’s just a great player to play with. He’s going to have your back.”

Assuming Murphy steps into the starting lineup at the power forward position, that is exactly what the Hurricanes need with most of their scoring coming from the guard positions. While the Canes might not have the most talent in the country, adding the gritty Murphy to an already solid team should prove very beneficial.

With the season now just over a month away, preseason rankings have started to make their way out and while they may be fun to look over as fans, the players were having none of it.

“We have about a month left until the start of the season and once that first game comes we’re going to be more than what people expected,” Murphy said. “All the stuff with preseason rankings, that doesn’t matter because once that first game rolls around I think they’ll see what our potential is and we’ll only get better from there.”

This team might not have any first-round draft picks or McDonald’s All-Americans but I can tell you this, the Hurricanes squad is unified and ready to put themselves on the map.

What you’ll find with this team is a loose environment with guys willing to work hard as a unified team and not a group of individuals.

To me, that sounds like a pretty good recipe for success.

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