‘An every-day MFer’: Holloway now passing down Ole Miss basketball lessons as a coach
In this edition of Talk of Champions, Ben Garrett of the Ole Miss Spirit/On3 is joined by all-time Rebel basketball great Murphy Holloway to break down his decision to return to Ole Miss and begin his coaching career.
“Love being back. The energy that’s surrounding basketball is amazing,” Holloway said.
Holloway was in Seoul, South Korea, in the final leg of his 10-year professional playing career overseas when he reached out to Chris Beard to congratulate him on being hired as Ole Miss head coach in March.
Holloway came in for Double Decker weekend in the spring to meet about a possible position on Beard’s staff. The rest is history.
“I’d been thinking about it for a while,” Holloway said. “I told myself when I started playing basketball overseas that I’d dedicate 10 years of my life to this, and I didn’t know what was going to come from it, but I was done after that 10th year.
“This is that 10th year. Usually things don’t go as planned. But (Beard) made it so easy for me to hang ‘em up. I was tired of that grind overseas. Money’s good, but at the end of the day, it ain’t the happiness.”
Holloway was one of the greatest forwards to ever suit up for the Rebels.
He averaged 14.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game as a senior and picked up All-SEC second team honors. He was named to the SEC All-Tournament team as well — capping an historic postseason run for the Rebels that resulted in their second-ever SEC Tournament championship and the first of just three NCAA Tournament appearances since 2013.
Holloway finished his career as the school record-holder for rebounds (1,093). He was the only player in SEC history to post 1,400 points, 1,000 rebounds and 190 steals. He had 39 career double-doubles, the second-most all-time at Ole Miss.
Holloway, as a professional, played for 13 different teams across several different countries from 2013 to 2022. Among his stops were Turkey, Israel, Italy, France, the Philippines, South Korea, Bahrain and Germany. Some of his best numbers professionally came in the Philippines. Holloway suited up for GlobalPort Batang Pier and averaged a whopping 27 points and 17.7 rebounds per game. He also averaged 2.7 blocks.
“I was able to come back and start a new career easily,” Holloway said. “This is home. The only other place I prefer to live out of South Carolina. I wanted to go into (coaching) while I was (playing at Ole Miss). I’ve seen the influence coaches have on players. The influence Andy Kennedy had on me. Bill Armstrong. Al Pinkins.
“My purpose is to help young men and see ‘em blossom. Help a kid’s life.”
The post ‘An every-day MFer’: Holloway now passing down Ole Miss basketball lessons as a coach appeared first on On3.
