Florida redshirt junior forward Alex Murphy has been cleared to play and will make his debut today against Wake Forest (5 p.m.) at the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise.
The Duke transfer was awaiting for his grades to be posted to prove that he’s been enrolled at UF for a year. Per NCAA Division I rules, transfers must sit out a year before playing in games.
Florida coach Billy Donovan has described the 6-foot-8 Murphy as a “point forward” capable of playing different positions. He doesn’t have the same deep shooting of his older brother, 6-foot-10 Erik Murphy, who led the SEC in 3-point shooting his senior year at 45.3 percent. But the younger Murphy is capable of making plays off the dribble and is more athletic.
“Alex’s position is an interesting one just because he’s pretty cerebral,” Donovan said. “He can play a lot of different positions. We can move him around.”
Junior guard Eli Carter will sit out the Wake Forest game with step throat, but with Murphy back, the Gators still will have a rotation that’s nine players deep, including walk-on Jacob Kurtz.
