A Chat with Ben Murphy

This podcast highlights the experiences of a black student-athlete on a college basketball team. The guest, Ben Murphy, shares how his father's NBA career inspired him to play sports and how his mother encouraged him to participate in multiple sports throughout his childhood. He shares that he works hard to maintain his academic responsibilities alongside of his athletic commitment. He is proud of his upbringing, his cultural identity, and his pursuit to improve in his sport.

A vital aspect of this podcast is about student athletes' motivation, family influence, and academic priorities. Ben's parents and siblings are his role models, with his dad playing in the NBA and his mom being a dentist. He prioritizes his schoolwork before basketball practice to manage the demands of being a student-athlete. Ben's dad, Ronnie Murphy, is a role model because of his hard work and dedication to his family. Ronnie was “Drafted 17th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1987 NBA Draft,” (judolphins.com).

Next, the podcast dives into Murphy's athletic career, cultural background, and the UMD basketball team dynamics. Ben shared his experience of overcoming a brutal injury and staying motivated to return to basketball, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and community support. Ben and Daniel discussed the value of engaging with local communities through athletics, with Ben sharing his experience of helping out at his old high school and providing wisdom to younger players. Ben highlights the diversity of the basketball team, including players from different cultures and countries. Ben, Haley, and Daniel discuss the team's unique dynamic, including the mix of different ages and experiences and the importance of camaraderie and teamwork.

An essential part of the podcast is when Haley and Daniel ask questions about Ben's aspirations for his current life and his future, his cultural identity, and the challenges he has faced and how he overcame them. Ben shares his goals of being a great teammate and contributing to the broader conversation around diversity and inclusion in athletics. He also shares how schools and athletic organizations can better support diverse student-athletes by recognizing and addressing issues within their communities. He says if there were ever a situation he felt passionate about, he would not hesitate to use his social media platform to speak out against it.

To wrap up, the podcast discusses Ben’s athletic achievements and obstacles faced by himself and other black student-athletes. Ben, a black student-athlete at Maryland, overcame obstacles such as a lack of recruitment and a torn ACL, all leading him to his destiny: to play for his home university. His experience as a black student-athlete has taught him to work harder to prove himself and overcome stereotypes. Daniel discusses the song "My Boo" and its origins. UMD basketball players sparked a viral internet trend called ‘the running man challenge’ while dancing to this song. Jaylen Brantley was interviewed with USAtoday.com and said: “‘We dance every day for our teammates in the locker room,’ said Brantley. ‘We’re the goofballs. So we were like, Hey, let’s make a video and make everybody laugh.’” This is why Haley and Daniel included this song on the podcast. It is an iconic masterpiece created by two of the players on the team, so we just wanted to add it in for its significance and relevance to the topic. Haley then mentions the reasoning behind using the song “Levels” for the intro and outro, because it is a tradition that the song is played at every home UMD men’s basketball game’s warmup. We conclude with mentioning our podcast’s name once again and thanking everyone for listening.