FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida SouthWestern State College Interim Director of Athletics George Sanders announced today that FSW Assistant Coach Eric Murphy has been selected as the new Men's Head Basketball Coach at FSW. Murphy has more than 10 years of coaching experience, including two on the staff of his predecessor, Marty Richter.

Murphy has helped lead the Bucs to a 56-10 (.848) overall record over the past two seasons. He helped FSW earn the program's first Suncoast Conference championship (12-0 conference record) in 2017-18 and also helped the Buccaneers secure their second consecutive berth to the NJCAA District VIII Championship.

"We are excited to promote Eric to this position," said Sanders. "He has helped build our men’s basketball program into a top-5 program and we believe he is ready for this opportunity and is a great fit for FSW men's basketball. To keep our program headed in the right direction, we believed we needed stability and think it's important to keep good people here."

“I would like to thank President Jeffrey Allbritten and Interim Athletic Director, George Sanders, for their confidence in me and providing me with this unbelievable opportunity,” said Murphy. “I also would like to thank all of the past and current players as well as the coaching staff for their hard work and dedication in helping make FSW one of the top junior colleges in the country. In addition, I would like to thank Coach Marty Richter for hiring me as an assistant and mentoring me these past two seasons. He is a great coach, a great person and a great family man. I have learned a lot from him and feel honored to have worked alongside him. I am excited for this new challenge and am dedicated to maintaining the success of FSW’s Men’s Basketball program.”

Murphy came to Florida SouthWestern after spending three seasons as a member of the Northern Colorado men's basketball staff. He served as the director of operations for one season (2013-14), before spending two seasons as an assistant coach (2014-16).

Prior to his stint at Northern Colorado, Murphy spent two seasons as the assistant and interim head coach at Wabash Valley College. He was the interim head coach at Wabash Valley for 11 games between Dec. 2012 and Jan. 2013.

While at Wabash Valley, he helped lead the team to an eighth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in 2012 after they won the Region 24 Championship.

He spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Slippery Rock from 2007-09 and coached the following two years at Vincennes University as an assistant coach before moving to Wabash Valley.

At all of his previous institutions, Murphy has been extremely involved in the recruiting of student-athletes and coordination of practice, scouting and game plans. He also has experience on the operational side of the game and in community and alumni relations, travel coordination, meals and housing and several other off the court activities.

Murphy played collegiately at Pennsylvania State-Beaver, Mercyhurst College and Waynesburg before beginning his coaching career. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Waynesburg in 2002 and completed his master's degree in physical education from Slippery Rock in 2010.

Murphy and his wife Sara reside in Fort Myers with their daughter Makari and son Zaiden.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT MURPHY
“Eric has been a crucial part of the success at FSW over the last two seasons. He brings a tireless work ethic, an incomparable ability to relate to players and an inspired, but subtle character to the Bucs squad. He is simply a great person that people enjoy being around. I’m extremely proud of Eric’s dedication to the program and his family. Coach Murphy will go on to do great things at FSW, and I look forward to following his career.”

- Marty Richter
Former FSW Head Men’s Basketball Coach, now Assistant Coach at Drake University

FOLLOW THE BUCS
For the latest news on FSW Athletics, log on to FSWBucs.com or stay connected to the Bucs on social media. Follow the Buccaneers on Twitter @FSWBucs, on Instagram @FSWBucs, on Facebook at Facebook.com/FSWBucs and on Snapchat at BucsSnaps.

SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Suncoast Credit Union Arena is approximately 75,000 square feet and is home to the FSW basketball teams and a student athletic center. The arena seats approximately 3,300 fans and includes six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena has two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, that each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays have been installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.

FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball).

Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers is the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball teams compete.

THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.

In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.

On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.

The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.

For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org. 

THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.

Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.

For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.  

NJCAA REGION 8 & THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college. 

The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors. 

FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.

The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota. The women’s basketball program is also in the Suncoast Conference, but with only three other teams (Hillsborough Community College, St. Petersburg College and Eastern Florida State College).

For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.