May 21, 2003

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State men's basketball head coach Mike Garland announced Wednesday that Luke Murphy (Hampton, Va.) has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend CSU in the fall. Murphy joins guard Victor Morris (Inkster, Mich./Inkster) and forward Patrick Tatham (Brampton, Ontario/Chinguacousy) who inked with the Vikings last week.

A 6-8, 210 pound power forward at Phoebus HS, Murphy averaged 14.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 5.0 bpg while shooting 72 percent from the floor as a senior for Head Coach Mark Casseri. An All-Peninsula District selection for the Phantoms, he plans on studying biology with a concentration in pre-med. Murphy also considered Creighton and Drake.

"Luke Murphy comes highly recommended by Bob Gibbons, one of the top high school talent evaluators in the country," pointed out Garland. "For a power forward, Luke has great range from the outside which will allow us to stretch the defense."

Garland became the 13th head coach in the program's history on April 17, 2003. He spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant under Tom Izzo at Michigan State.