SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – La Salle has a veteran team with three seniors and one junior in the starting lineup, along with a senior who would be starting if not for an injury. This is a season that those following the program could point to as a potential big year if the team grew at the clip they did early on. Even so, on this team, it’s a freshman who is at least an X-factor and maybe more.
Aaric Murray came in with a good deal of hype. It’s not often a player as highly-touted as the 6’10” big man comes to a school like La Salle – not with all the Big East schools in the general vicinity who couldn’t miss him in high school. He was ranked 40th in Prepstars Recruiters Handbook in the class of 2009; Scout.com ranked him 31st. He got offers from Big East schools, but opted for La Salle. While he probably would have played a lot of minutes anyway, it became a sure thing when Vernon Goodridge was ruled ineligible by the NCAA in September.
Murray has started all but two games for the Explorers thus far, and has shown plenty of promise in between the ups and downs that can be expected of a freshman. Even though he wasn’t a baby physically when he got to college like some big men, he wasn’t as physically developed as some older players. That’s why his coach, while clearly seeing his talent and knowing he can do a lot with him, doesn’t get carried away with what he can do right now.
“Aaric is a really talented kid, but I think everyone underestimates the jump from high school to college,” head coach John Giannini said after Murray helped lead their win over UMass. “I didn’t see anyone last year in high school that he played against that looked like Hashim Bailey. I didn’t see anyone that he played in high school last year in the regular season that has the length of (Sean) Carter. It’s a jump, and those are older guys and bigger guys.”
Murray had a big second half to help the Explorers knock off the Minutemen after trailing by seven at halftime. After playing just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, he scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and also had nine rebounds and four blocked shots. He was clearly a factor at both ends of the floor, which wasn’t lost on the opponent as well.
“He altered a lot of shots on drives to the basket,” said UMass senior guard Ricky Harris. “He was long, so he got a lot of offensive rebounds, which helped their team out. His energy just gave them momentum in the whole second half.”
Giannini said they want to build some things around the young big man, while noting that he’s had his struggles. Just looking at the numbers game-by-game will show that; after a double-double in his collegiate debut with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Hampton, he had just four points and seven rebounds in the next game. A double-double against Villanova started a string of four straight double-digit scoring games, but then he had just four points at Kansas. He had just three at Binghamton.
Clearly, there have been bumps in the road, but a game like Sunday’s can only help. The Minutemen had become a strong rebounding team in recent weeks, but Murray, Jerrell Williams and reserve Steve Weingarten helped lead the Explorers to a 47-32 edge on the glass. That helped them to a 19-8 edge in second-chance points as well, and Murray was prominent there as he had five offensive boards. On several occasions, he tipped in a miss from a few feet away, which isn’t something that comes naturally to most players.
“We planned on Aaric being the kind of player that he was today,” Giannini said. “This is, frankly, what we need Aaric to do; this is what Aaric needs to do. It’s great, he’s starting to put it together, he’s starting to figure out the physicality of it and the importance of defense and going for rebounds and posting up stronger. I think Aaric was really aggressive today, he had good energy, and he’s learning how to play the game at a higher level.”
It doesn’t hurt that Murray is surrounded by a team full of veterans who have been through plenty in their careers. The current senior class went 10-20 as freshmen, then improved to 15-17 as sophomores thanks in part to a late run in the Atlantic 10. Expectations were higher last season, and they went 18-13 but couldn’t get above fifth in the Atlantic 10. With Sunday’s win, they are above .500 and 1-1 in the conference.
Giannini talked about this after the game. The Explorers, who have been without senior guard Ruben Guillandeaux since the fourth game of the season due to a stress fracture in his right foot, snapped a four-game losing streak with the win. Giannini reminded his team, especially his veterans, that they’ve been through this before and can get through it just like they did in the past.
“Every year, we’ve hit a little bump of a few games,” said Giannini. “I told them that after the game, I said, ‘Listen, we’ve gone through some losses every season, and we’ve always responded well.’ You’ve just got to admire kids like that, and it’s true, we tell our guys all the time that basketball reveals character and it builds it. You go through a hard time, and you don’t quit – you keep trying. You learn some perseverance and become a better person.”
Over the last few seasons, the Explorers have done plenty of that. Now, with a freshman big man to help the seniors, they made it through another hard time and hope to be on their way to the kind of season many expected of this veteran team before the season.
