Union College Athletics

One of the finest guards in Union College men’s basketball history, Chris Murphy '06 returns for his 13th season as the head men's basketball coach at his alma mater in 2025-26.

In his decade-plus at the helm of the program, Murphy has amassed a 142-139 record, including back-to-back Liberty League Tournament championships and a pair of appearances in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018. His 142 wins are third-most in school history and makes him part of a nearly unprecedented period of stability in the program that has seen only three coaches in the last half-century.

Murphy had one of best coaching seasons in 2023-24, guiding a very young team with 13 underclassmen and only four upperclassmen to a 14-11 record and a tie for fourth place in the competitive Liberty League. Four of the team's top-five scorers were new to the program and accounted for over 60 percent of the team's points, led by Liberty League and D3hoops.com Region 3 Rookie of the Year Tanner Tedesco. Returning most of that production in 2024-25, Murphy led Union to a 16-11 record and another top-four finish in the Liberty League, helped by a 10-3 close to the regular season. Tedesco was named to the All-Liberty League first team and earned the program's first All-Region honors since 2018, while classmate Jack Plesser earned a spot on the All-League second team. The team's excellent sophomore class accounted for over 77 percent of the team's scoring on the season, including the squad's top-three scorers.

Murphy guided Union to one of the best seasons in school history in 2017-18, when the team went 19-9 and captured a second straight Liberty League Tournament title. The 19 victories are tied for seventh-most in a single season at Union. As a result, Murphy was recognized with Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

The 2016-17 season featured the program's first NCAA appearance and Liberty League Tournament title since Murphy's junior season of 2004-05, as Union won the conference championship on the home court against Hobart as a #3 seed. The Dutchmen won 17 games and senior Deshon Burgess was named to the NABC East Region First Team among many other honors.

Murphy returned to Union after serving as an assistant at Emory University from 2009-13. In his four seasons, he helped the program to an overall record of 74-28, including a 20-7 record and the program’s first NCAA playoff appearance since 1990. In two of his four seasons, Emory earned UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Murphy began his coaching career at Iona Prep in 2006-07 and joined the Union coaching staff in 2008-09 as an assistant for two seasons under his predecessor, longtime Union mentor Bob Montana.

During his coaching career at Emory, Murphy participated in a bone marrow search and was selected to donate marrow to a 60-year-old male leukemia patient in Chicago. The transplant was successful and extended the recipient's life.

Murphy had an outstanding career at Union, serving as captain of the team in his senior season and helping the Dutchmen to a 71-43 mark in four years. He became the sixth Union player to record 300 career assists and averaged over 4.0 assists in his career, finishing with 472 for his career, including 119 assists in his first season in Schenectady that stood as the most by a true freshman in program history until surpassed in 2023-24 by Tanner Tedesco. He was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2004-05, leading the team to a conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance. In his final season of 2005-06, Murphy led the Dutchmen with an average of 4.78 assists per game.

Murphy earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Union in 2006 and later obtained a Masters of Business Administration from his alma mater in 2009.