Florida Tech introduced its two new head basketball coaches at a press conference held at the Clemente Center Tuesday afternoon.
Will Murphy was hired as the new men’s head coach and Ashley Raley-Ross was named head coach for the women’s team.
Both Murphy and Raley-Ross come from coaching positions at Wofford College. Murphy was a part of Woffard’s staff for eight seasons with his most recent role with the team being associate head coach. Raley-Ross had been an assistant coach for the Terriers since 2022.
Florida Tech athletic director Jamie Joss highlighted the experience that Raley-Ross brings to the teams and called her the “perfect fit” for the Panthers.
“Ashley’s coaching experience includes leading both male and female athletes. Her proven ability to improve academically strong scholar athletes makes her the perfect fit for Florida Tech,” Joss said. “She understands what it takes to build a successful program both in the classroom and on the floor. Focusing on the holistic development of each scholar athlete. We are confident that Ashley’s leadership, shaped by strong mentors and her experience as a player, will guide our program to new heights.”
Raley-Ross takes over for John Reynolds, who was coach of the team for 38 seasons and won a total of 606 games. As the new head coach, Raley-Ross mentioned that she plans to build upon the culture created by Reynolds while also adding her touch to the program.
“Well, I want to keep the family aspect that he has built here. Numerous alumni have loved playing for him, so I want to continue that tradition and just continue to build on a culture and maybe make a few adjustments to what fits me but continue to instill the family values that he had.” Raley-Ross said.
Raley-Ross will look to have the team playing a style of basketball she described as quick and defense-focused.
“They can expect a lot of fun, we’re going to be fun to watch. We’re going to play really good defense, numerous different defenses and really fast pace. I know that a lot of people say that they play fast but we’re going to play fast with structure and really set the tone with defense.” Raley-Ross said.
Murphy steps into the role of head coach of the men’s team after Bill Mims left the program after 20 seasons in charge.
Like Raley-Ross, Joss emphasized Murphy’s experience and his abilities as a coach as things that stood out about him.
“Will brings a wealth of experience from the Division I level having worked alongside some of the best coaches in the business. He understands what it takes to build a successful program on and off the court,” Joss said. “His commitment to recruiting high achieving scholar athletes, analytical approach to the game and the ability to connect with players makes him the perfect fit for Florida Tech. We are confident in Will’s leadership and his guidance bringing us new to new heights in the sunshine state conference.”
Murphy was a part of a coaching staff at Woffard that saw the team earn its first win in the NCAA tournament. At the press conference, he mentioned his plan for building the team at Florida Tech is focuses around being competitive.
“I think everybody knows you have a threshold of talent. There’s a baseline of talent that you have to have to be able to compete at the very top of any conference. But when you go back and look at it rarely does the most talented team win,” Murphy said. “We’re going to be the most competitive team. We’re going to have talent but year in and year out we’re going to be the most competitive team in our league and that’s going to give you a chance to win the conference.”
Murphy also emphasized that his early focus for the team is to get better each day leading into the season while also playing with joy.
“It’s going to sound cliche, but just to win every day. We don’t play a game until November but there’s so much we can do between now and November to get better,” Murphy said. “There’s not specific games that I’ll ever have, but it’s a process of trying to come in tomorrow on Wednesday and getting better than we were on Tuesday and figure out how to be a little bit better Thursday and having fun and joy while you’re doing it.”
