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| | Wednesday, July 12 Murphy, others support their ex-coach | |||||
| Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame players said Tuesday they were disappointed by coach Matt Doherty's decision to take the job at North Carolina, but understood why he's making the move. "People close to coach Doherty understand what went on with the decision and the things that pulled him to North Carolina," forward Troy Murphy said. "We understand why he made the decision." Murphy, a first-team All-American and Big East player of the year as a sophomore last season, decided in the spring to skip the NBA draft in part because of Doherty, who led the Irish to a 22-15 record and a second-place finish in the NIT in his first season. But Murphy said he doesn't regret his decision. "Personally, I think I have a lot of things I can get better on," he said. "There are a lot of what ifs in everything. It's a decision I made and a decision I have to live with," he said. Other players said they also understood. "It was his dream to go coach at his alma mater. You've got to follow your dreams, try to achieve them. He got his chance to go do that," forward Harold Swanagan said. Irish athletics director Kevin White plans to begin interviewing coaching prospects in the next three to five days, saying it is crucial to get someone in quickly because of recruiting and for the sake of the players. White learned of Doherty's decision at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, and Doherty and White met with the players in a dorm room an hour later. Players said Doherty cried. "Coach was very emotional. We just kind of took it all in and really didn't have any comments," guard Matt Carroll said. "He just told us it was such a hard decision to make. He said it was just an opportunity he just couldn't pass up." White said the Notre Dame job also will be a tough one to pass up, comparing the job to coaching at places such as Duke and Stanford. "Our commitment hasn't changed. Our commitment is to have a top five program, and I believe we can have that," he said. Doherty was a Kansas assistant when he signed a five-year deal with Notre Dame in March 1999. But he had a clause in his contract regarding North Carolina. "I suspect that when Matt came to Notre Dame he hoped that at some point he'd have an opportunity to have a conversation with North Carolina, maybe five or eight or 10 years down the road," White said. "I don't think he ever expected it would occur after year one." | ALSO SEE North Carolina hires Notre Dame's Doherty Katz: UNC obliges Doherty's demand Oregon's Kent tops Notre Dame's list; Digger interested AUDIO/VIDEO  The father of a Notre Dame top recruit speaks about the university's coaching situation.wav: 1222 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||