Preston Murphy Details Recruiting Approach for Alabama Basketball

In a sit down with BamaCentral, Murphy dove into his approach that's made him one of the best recruiters in the country.

Dec 16, 2023; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide assistant coach Preston Murphy watches action against the Creighton Bluejays in the first half at CHI Health Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama basketball's success under Nate Oats can be attributed to a number of things.

Oats' NBA style of play and a wide variety of talented, All-SEC level players have been some of the greatest catalysts for the Crimson Tide's success since the turn of the decade, which includes four combined SEC regular season and tournament titles to go along with two Sweet 16s and a Final Four.

But the precursor to having those All-SEC caliber players is being able to acquire such talent. Under Oats, Alabama has become somewhat of a recruiting machine, posting multiple top-3 classes in his tenure.

The lead recruiter for Alabama's most recent class, ranked No. 2 in the country, is assistant coach Preston Murphy, who took over for former assistant Bryan Hodgson after he left for the head coaching job at Arkansas State.

Like Hodgson, Murphy has already become regarded as one of the best recruiters in all of college basketball, with there being no drop-off in the level Alabama has recruited at despite the internal staff change.

Murphy, while in between recruiting trips, took time to sit down with BamaCentral and discuss parts of his approach to recruiting, and how he's helped maintain Alabama's status as a feared force on the recruiting trail.

“For me, it’s all based on basketball. I was fortunate enough to play some high level basketball, and fortunate enough to have some really good coaches in my life that I played for and worked for," Murphy said. "I worked for [Dan] Hurley, [Greg] McDermott, Al Skinner, I played for Jim Harrick. I think that it’s a basketball-first approach. I think I’m able to recruit guys because of the basketball I’ve learned that I want to give back to those guys. Player development is huge part of it, helping these guys grow along their path so they can become the best player they can be. I look at it as less of recruiting, and more being a basketball mind that can help those guys reach their full potential."

There's no doubt Murphy's wealth of experience both playing and working under some of the best coaches in the sport's history would be attractive to potential recruits. But Murphy knows he also has a great resource at his disposal in Oats' system, and the way high-level players can fit into it.

“To me, it starts with head coach. The guys that we recruit and that we target, they want to play for a guy like Coach Oats," Murphy said. "We want to recruit guys who have ambitions who want to play in the NBA and have a long career. And they’re fortunate enough to come play for a guy who runs an NBA system, very up to date on modern basketball. We identify guys that have those types of talents and ambitions to play at the next level, then we give them an opportunity to play for a guy who runs a next level offense and next level schemes."

Though there are a lot of similarities in Alabama's ideal recruit in terms of playstyle or ambitions, it doesn't mean Murphy's approach to every recruit is the same.

“Every player that comes out has different things that they need, different things they need to work on," Murphy said. "I think a part of my job is to evaluate that, and figure out how I can help those guys become the best players they can be."

Another aspect of Murphy's recruiting approach is his social media accounts, which he uses to add a playful dynamic to his recruiting. Starting earlier this spring, Murphy gained popularity on his Twitter/X account for posting a series of memes and photos that eagle-eyed fans figured out were hinting at different recruiting targets.

“We have great fans down here, and they do a great job of supporting us. To me, that’s a way for me to be able to connect with those guys and bring them into the fold and have them be a part of it," Murphy said. "Everything I do from that aspect is to bring them in, and kind of give them a glimpse of what’s going on. You know, if they’re following my social media they obviously care about the program, so that’s me giving a little nugget back, giving some entertainment, and some insight to what’s going on."

Murphy's posts became infamous for featuring Clifford the Big Red Dog, an early 2000's cartoon dog hidden in a number of posts that was a hint at Rutgers transfer center and Alabama target Clifford Omoruyi.

"Oh, that thing took a mind of it’s own," Murphy said with a laugh. "It just kept going, I was in too deep to stop. It was fun, though, we had a good time with it. [The recruits] enjoy it. Cliff really enjoyed it, he embraced it. It was fun, it was a good way to keep Cliff on Alabama’s mind, and it was good going through the process."

With Murphy's basketball-first approach, an emphasis on Oats' system and a little fun on social media, he was able to reel in a 2024 recruiting/portal class that on paper looks to be one of the best in the entire country.

“I believe that it’s a tremendous group of guys to be around. They’re all basketball guys. These guys really care, they put in the extra time and the hours, they want to be great," Murphy said. "I think it’s a real testament to Coach Oats that a lot of these guys want to come play for him, and maybe turn down different opportunities they had at other places to come be a part of something we think can be special this year. The guys have been great, the buy in has been great. The comradery, the sportsmanship the competitiveness in a short period of time that we’ve been here has been really good."

That competitiveness isn't just shared by the players. Murphy explained how it starts at the top, with Oats being one of, if not the most competitive of them all.

"Oats doesn’t like to lose, I’ll tell you. He’s a sore loser," Murphy said. "Whether we’re playing pool, ping-pong, we are a very competitive staff and group. We try to win in everything, that’s what we’re here for. If you’re playing Oats in a game, and it’s getting close to the end, all of a sudden it’ll turn into a 3-game series. He loses that game, it’s a 5-game series. He’ll let that thing go to 20 games before he concedes. It’ll continue into the next day, the next week. He’s an ultra-competitive, fiery guy. It’s great for the program and the organization."

The competitions carry over from games to practice, and from practice to every little thing imaginable. Between Murphy and his players, it's always a competition, no matter what they're doing. A quality that he seeks for in his players on the recruiting trail, and it shows in the locker room, on the court, and everywhere in the facility.

“Every day, all day, we got at it all the time. Between myself and the players, the players and themselves. I don’t like losing, they don’t like losing," Murphy said. "Even if it’s a race to the water cooler, I don’t want to lose. Losing’s a bad feeling, so I try not to have it too often."

Murphy explained that he and select players regularly participate in shooting games, which he rarely loses at. He said Latrell Wrightsell was the only player with multiple wins against him, and oddly enough, was even talking trash to him as he walked into the interview.

When asked if there's a game his players could regularly beat him at, his answer was simple:

“That game hasn’t been invented yet. That game doesn’t exist yet."

It's clear how much the players inside the facility love Murphy, and his numbers are clear evidence for the love recruits have for him as well. As long as he's leading the charge on the trail, you can expect to keep seeing that script A at the top of recruiting rankings.