By Craig Craker
For NNUSports.com
 

NAMPA, Idaho – Gabe Murphy was sitting at the Boise airport with his teammates, laughing and joking while waiting for a flight on Feb. 22.

The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team was preparing to fly out for the final road trip of the regular season, but a snowstorm in Oregon closed the Portland airport and canceled their flight.

That turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Murphy, who unbeknownst to those around him, was suffering from a racing heartbeat.

A few hours later, at the urging of his mother, Remi, the redshirt-junior went to the emergency room for a battery of tests to find out why a healthy 22-year-old had a heartbeat of 147 per minute. His normal resting heart rate is around 50 beats per minute.

"Thoughts were going through my mind about my last basketball game. Could I have a heart condition that is rare? That was a really scary thought," Murphy said. "Would I ever be able to play again or work out again? I had plans to come back to (NNU) and over the next few days, if I walked too fast or too far or was talking too much, I would get out of breath.

"That was pretty scary, honestly."

Murphy and the Nighthawks (15-14 overall) open the NCAA Division II National Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Point Loma Nazarene (27-3) in California.

Why is this happening?

Murphy had experienced heart palpitations at other points in his life, but he never had a heart rate this high and this uncomfortable.

Doctors initially were worried he had a blood clot but ruled that out with a CT scan and blood work. They didn't know what was wrong with Murphy but gave him some medicine and sent him on his way.

Things didn't improve, though.

He skipped the Nighthawks' trip to Oregon and Washington and saw a doctor on campus. His racing heart rate continued and at the urging of his mother, he again went to the hospital Feb. 24.

"I was honestly a little scared for him," teammate Jaylen Fox said. "You don't want to play around with heart issues. I wanted to keep him in prayers immediately—that was my first thought."

More tests were done and a cardiologist looked at Murphy's chart. After consulting with others, Murphy was released and told he could play in the team's games at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.

The Damar Hamlin effect

While Murphy's racing heart wasn't easily explained, it brought to mind Damar Hamlin for nearly everyone involved.

Hamlin is a Buffalo Bills football player whose heart stopped during a Monday Night Football game in January.

While Hamlin's situation revolved around a hard hit and is not completely analogous to Murphy's, it still brought up uncomfortable thoughts for all involved.

So, Murphy's mom wanted a host of questions answered before her mind was put at ease with her son playing.

"I was concerned about whether medical care would be immediately available, if someone on the coaching/training staff was appropriately trained for CPR and if there would be a defibrillator on site," she said. "Gabriel is an adult. I wasn't going to intervene in the face of a medically based decision to allow him to play, but I was concerned."

All of that was covered as standard operating procedure at sporting events and everything met the mom eye test, so Murphy suited up and started against Seattle Pacific in the opener of the GNAC tournament.

He normally plays six or seven minutes before coming to the bench for a breather, but head coach Paul Rush pulled him after three so the training staff could check and ensure everything was fine.

The trainer signed off and Murphy went back onto the court.

The Nighthawks put together a big rally in the second half to knock off the higher-seeded Falcons, led by Murphy's 17 points and seven rebounds.

He had two more strong performances in the semifinals and finals, finishing the tournament averaging 11.3 points, and 5.0 rebounds in 26 minutes. He helped NNU win its first GNAC tournament title in program history and lock up its second NCAA tournament bid.

Big man on campus and on the court

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound center from California was key for the Nighthawks' surprise run, considering the team was 0-5 in his absences this season.

Murphy has come a long way from the player who was a crowd favorite but not necessarily seen as a game-changer when he first stepped foot on campus.

"I didn't anticipate the transformation from a doughy freshman to a beast. Somebody who is real hard to stop and is one of the best players in our conference," Rush said of the first player who committed to his program when he took over in 2017. "The thing we gambled on is he had great hands and good feet for his size and an incredible work ethic.

"The transformation he has made is because of how hard he has worked."

That hard work helped lead the Nighthawks to change the offensive system they've run for Rush's tenure, switching from a guard heavy, motion offense to one that flows through the post.

It all added up to a strong second half of the season for NNU and a second tournament bid after 20 years of futility.

"It was a trying year, going through adversity, losing streaks, lost games at home that we'd like to have back and through all of that, the guys kept their heads high," Murphy said. "It is awesome to see how we stuck together as a unit."

And that was never more the case than when Murphy missed that road trip and was dealing with a suddenly serious health concern.

"It was weird not having him on the trip," Fox said. "I think someone joked that he takes up two people's spots, so it felt a little empty in the locker room. We knew having him back would help us get to our regular form and he would dominate."

And he did just that at the conference tournament and hopes to do it again at the national tournament.