Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island basketball has never seen anything quite like this. “Liam Murphy is going to Purdue University and Staten Island should be excited,” said Charlie DeBiase Jr., Advance/SILive.com senior sports writer, on “The West Brighton Boilermaker,” a documentary that chronicles one of the most significant basketball journeys to emerge from New York’s forgotten borough. And excited they should be — this isn’t just another Division I signing; it’s a significant moment for Staten Island hoops. Carmine Angioli, Advance/SILive.com pub hub editor, puts Murphy’s achievement into historical perspective: “What I think is significant about Liam is that this is about as far up the Division 1 food chain as anybody from Staten Island has ever landed.” The walls of St. Peter’s High School tell the first chapters of Murphy’s story — a thousand-point scorer, multiple Staten Island High School League championships, and a winner of the prestigious Jaques Award, given to the Island’s top player. But what’s happening now transcends local accolades. Murphy has jumped from those high school gymnasiums to the blinding spotlight of a national championship contender. “I really believed that this was a terrific series to do on Liam because the bottom line is how often does a player from Staten Island compete at a school like Purdue? On top of that, this year they have a legit chance to win a national championship,” DeBiase explains in the documentary, highlighting the rarity of this opportunity. The significance of Murphy’s achievement resonates beyond just his personal journey. For a borough often overshadowed by basketball hotbeds like Brooklyn and the Bronx, sending a player to a program of Purdue’s caliber represents a collective triumph —a validation that Staten Island belongs in conversations about elite basketball talent. When the documentary examines the footprint of Staten Island’s Division I basketball history, Angioli notes it’s “not gigantic, but it’s not insignificant either. And I think it’s probably proportional to the size of a town we are.” Yet Murphy’s leap to Purdue breaks that proportionality, giving a Staten Islander a chance to win the national title. The documentary captures this historic transition, juxtaposing scenes of Murphy working out at his high school alma mater with discussions about his debut for a top-10 nationally ranked team. The contrast couldn’t be more striking — from the familiar confines of West Brighton to the roaring arenas of the Big Ten. Murphy himself remains grounded despite the monumental leap: “You know, I always had the confidence in myself. I think that I could play with anybody and on any court, but you never know how other people perceive your game and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion or what they’re looking for in their program.” Want to hear the full story of how Murphy made the jump from Staten Island to Purdue? Watch the first episode of “The West Brighton Boilermaker” on the Advance’s YouTube page.
